The CEO of a homeless charity has predicted that more rough sleepers will die in the coming weeks as temperatures plummet and emergency accommodation remains at full capacity.
Anthony Walsh is the founder and CEO of Feed Our Homeless in Finglas and was homeless himself for many years. He is categorical that he has never seen things as bad as they are now.
“It’s gotten worse,” he told Newstalk reporter Josh Crosbie.
“There’s a lot of drugs in the hostels, there’s a lot of bullying, intimidation but back when I was homeless, it wasn’t that bad.”
Next month a further 240 permanent beds for the homeless are due to come on stream in Dublin, while a further 40 beds will be made available during extreme weather events.
However, Mr Walsh is concerned that some of Dublin’s homeless won’t be alive by then.
“I’m calling on the Housing Minister and Dublin City Council to bring forward these cold winter beds to ensure that anyone who wants a bed at night can get a bed, can get access to a bed, can get into a hostel, out off the street and out of the cold,” he said.
"A few weeks down the line is too late.
“With the weather getting cold and the temperatures dropping at night, the fear amongst the homeless community is that we’re going to see more deaths.”
Out on the streets of Dublin, the patchy provision of emergency service is a constant source of anxiety for rough sleepers.
“I suffer from PTSD and emergency accommodation in Dublin is very up and down,” one man said.
When asked what the Government could do for him, his wishlist is short and precise.
“More housing for people - just something small! You could close your door, close your curtain.”
Feed Our Homeless is not short on volunteers but the severity of the housing crisis means that they are limited in what they can do for people.
“We’ll get the van and we’ll go out and meet rough sleepers where they’re sleeping and get them a bit of food and try and get them a bed for the night,” team leader Katie said.
“Especially now it’s getting colder, it’s just getting the beds for the night. A lot of them are looking for beds to get in but there’s none really by a certain time of the night.
"So, they’re having to bed down rough but a lot of them would like to get in out of the cold.
“We try our best and we’ve sleeping bags and clothes but it doesn’t beat a bed at the end of the day.”
By the canal a couple have pitched a tent. They have been homeless for three months, having fallen into arrears with their rent on an apartment in County Laois.
“They’ve offered us a hostel - separate, which we weren’t comfortable with,” the man said.
“We’re both in recovery, we relapsed a couple of months ago. We stayed clean for a number of weeks and then we relapsed a couple of weeks ago.
“It’s very depressing out here. Our clothes get drenched. It’s hard to even motivate yourself to get up and try and get dry clothes when the weather is last night.”
In August, the number of homeless people living in emergency accommodation hit a record figure of 10,805. It is expected that that figure will likely increase when September’s figures are released.
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Main image: A rough sleeper. Picture by: Josh Crosbie.
