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HOMELESS SERVICE HAVE thanked members of the public who got in touch overnight out of concern for people they had seen sleeping rough in the severely cold weather.
Dublin City Council’s homeless executive had 220 reports through its rough sleeper alert system, which it is asking members of the public to use if they have a concern about a homeless person.
“This has enabled the Housing First outreach teams to locate and engage with people sleeping rough and work with them to access shelter and more importantly the teams have been able to engage with people who would not normally come into services,” the homeless executive said this morning.
The Inner City Helping Homeless voluntary organisation will have outreach teams working again tonight and they can be alerted to anyone sleeping rough by calling 01 8881804 or 085 8389281.
Here’s what to do if you are in other parts of the country and have concern for a homeless person:
In Kildare, the Peter McVerry trust is operating the freephone line, which is 1800 804 307.
Meath County Council advises members of the public use its out of hours number, 1890 445 335.
Louth County Council can be contacted out of hours on 1890 202 303.
For services in Kilkenny, you can call Good Shepherd Centre on 056 7722566 or the council’s emergency call centre number 056 7794145.
In Cork, you can contact the homeless persons unit on 021 4963 052.
The Limerick Homeless Action Team can be reached on its freephone out of hours number: 1800 606060.
In Galway you can call Cope homeless services on 1800 788887.
To alert services in Kerry, you can call Arlington Lodge shelter in Tralee on 066 719 3800.
All of the local authorities have expanded their emergency accommodation provisions for the duration of the storm. Each of the local authorities have a general out of hours emergency number which can also be used and as a last resort, you can contact your local garda station.
‘Distressing rise in homeless figures’
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar earlier today acknowledged that the latest figures, which showed an increase in the number of people presenting as homeless, “are bad” and “distressing”.
In total, there were 1,517 families with 3,267 children staying in emergency accommodation in January.
This marks a rise of 109 families and 188 children since December.
There were 5,837 homeless adults in emergency accommodation in January, a rise of 158 on the previous month.
He said the rise in the figures is “disappointing” and shows government will have to redouble its efforts. “It is going to take time to get on top of this problem,” Varadkar said.
At the moment, he said his main concern is people who may be sleeping rough during the severe weather over the next number of days.
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So in theory, it could have been 200 different people that reported the same 1 rough sleeper?
@Mark O’sullivan: dope
@Mark O’sullivan: not only that, there’s no captcha system or anything to prevent someone from routing 1000 times… It’s about as useful as a poll on the journal
@Séa Graham: not a dope. Actually correct.
@Séa Graham: Thanks!
adjective: dope
1.
very good.
“that suit is dope!”
@Mark O’sullivan: I submitted a report about someone earlier who i saw sitting in the snow. It asks for a bit of detail so they can tell if it’s the same person reported. It works, that’s all that matters here. The weather is horrendous. Don’t forget what’s important, even if there are many duplicates or false reports their would be more than enough to make it a worthwhile process.
Interesting that it seems the homeless are only worthy of some care and attention in the so called “worst snow storm of the century”. Why not the rest of the time??
@Ian Oh: seriously! not a day go’s by there isn’t an article about the homeless or some TD/minister speaks about getting people off the streets. There’s beds available for all of them, those that want to engage and abide by the simple rules that ensure there’s no trouble in centres. Many simply don’t engage or have issues that making all but dragged them in on nights like this possible.
@Ian Oh: don’t confuse homeless with those sleeping rough. Homeless people have emergency accommodation which the state pays for.
@Derek: I’m well aware of all the talk. The problem is that that’s all it is. Did you ever ask yourself why there is such an explosion of homeless, that includes children in this country at present?? I have never experienced anything like it is at present in my lifetime. We can argue over the trivialities of definition, whether they are sleeping on the streets or in a hostel, etc, but the fact remains that the figure continues to rise uncontrollably of people who cannot afford a home. Whats changed?? The policies of successive Governments are creating this situation. Make no mistake. Zero hour contracts, minimum wage jobs and a country where everything you buy is pretty much 50% more expensive than any of our neighbors. Combine this with Nama who facilitated the selling off of a vast amount of Irish housing stock to foreign interests and now we have vulture funds (handed charity status for tax reasons by the Government) taking homes from people who missed some mortgage repayments back in the days post the 2008 crash. It’s very hard for the minister of Socks to hold the position of someone who cares that people have a home whilst at the same time cheer-leading and facilitating one of the greatest handovers of Irish assets to Non-Irish Interests. It believe it is hypocrisy of the highest order. And then make a song and dance when we have some severe weather. As if he cared.
@Morgan Freeman: And you are happy about that?? And their children being brought up in hostels?? Don’t assume that I am confused. I think I’m very clear in my thinking. You’re the one fudging.
@Morgan Freeman:
Homeless is sleeping rough – any new definition is political double speak and confusing the concept deliberately. just like you did….but fools no one
Emergency accommodation is their home – until they get a job and pay for a place like the rest of us. It is a safety net to make sure they are not homeless
Without emergency accommodation if on the streets they are “really” homeless.
Redefining terms like homeless removes all meaning and is crazy
If you follow your logic – anyone renting “temporarily” or staying with parents – are “homeless”…
Insane
Will they also engage with a homeless person who has a dog? There are quiet a few homeless people who happen to own a dog for company and because the dog is the only living thing they feel they can trust and talk to. So my question still stands… Will they engage with homeless people who own a dog…
@Lilly Passet-De Nais: They probably don’t Lilly but they still should. Maybe there is a link-up opportunity between homeless people who love dogs and homeless dogs. Dogs can offer a purpose for the homeless person, offer companionship and offer therapeutic returns too.
@Lilly Passet-De Nais: do you have any stats on the number of rough sleepers with dogs and also the number of those who are not accommodated because of the dog.
Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy is advising homeless people to huddle together like penguins during the blizzard conditions.
‘Homeless people who huddle together survive together’ remarked Eoghan Murphy.
@David Sinclair: He’s right. If theyre insane enough to refuse accommodation. It ckuld sace their lives. Mountaineers do it all the time.
@Tony Dowling: “Mountaineers do it all the time.” Yes it’s ok for some dope to get stuck up a mountain, all the relevant services alerted, rescuers lives put at risk. Homeless, no, leave them there it’s all their own fault anyway. Wrap up well,you’re ok Jack.
There should not be anyone allowed to sleep rough tonight of all nights, it’s -3 and dropping with a strong breeze making it feel like -10. It barely made it above freezing point today and with the ground so cold there is a real risk of death if sleeping on the ground. Please report any rough sleepers you see, Inner City Helping Homeless can also be contacted, see their website, ichh.ie, they provide a great service and will assist anyone in need. The government has failed to address this problem even though it was getting out of hand 4/5 years ago and in fact they have exacerbated it with many of their policies. They say that they are trying to address the issue but they are not, they don’t care one iota, remember this when FF and FG and Labour are looking for your vote. There are other parties and independents, try them, it can hardly be any worse than our current state of affairs.
Is there a reason that there is limited numbers listed? Are these counties, the only counties that offer help?
Where is this place with the 50% off shoes I ask……….
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