29/11/2017

Homeless Man Sleeping Rough In Dublin Found Dead

A homeless man has died while sleeping rough in Dublin City Centre.

The victim was discovered unresponsive in the Four Courts area in Monday, 27 November.

He is the second person to have passed away while sleeping rough in the city this week. On Tuesday, a man who had been living in a rent in Ranelagh was found unresponsive.

Sinn Féin Housing spokesperson, Eoin Ó Broin TD, said over the past three months, seven people have died while sleeping rough in Dublin, Drogheda, Cork, and Bray.

"The government does not have the homeless crisis in hand," he said.

"This month, the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive quarterly rough sleeper count revealed a 33% increase in the number of people forced to sleep on the streets in November."

Deputy Ó Broin has called on the opening of 200 additional cold weather beds due in mid-December to be brought forward.

"However, the only real accommodation solution for rough sleepers with complex needs is the Housing First programme," he continued.

"To date, only 180 Housing First tenancies have been created out of a government target of 300 for 2017. Minister Eoghan Murphy must make a commitment to expand the number of Housing First tenancies to 1,000 in order to really make an impact in the crisis.

"The Minister must also seriously consider adopting the six proposals outlined by the Peter McVerry trust today aimed at tackling the deepening crisis."

(LM)

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