A man was found dead on St. Stephen’s Green on Monday.
Many homeless people in Dublin are choosing to sleep outside rather than in “unsafe” emergency hostels, according to a homeless campaigner.
Fr Peter McVerry told RTÉ that a lot of homeless people are refusing to stay in emergency accommodation because of the danger element, including intimidation and drug-taking.
Speaking on Today with Keelin Shanley, Fr McVerry described the predicament of many homeless people:
“They sleep with their runners under their pillow because they’re afraid they will be robbed.
“The tragedy is that some of the emergency hostels are so frightening and so unsafe that people feel safer sleeping somewhere like Stephen’s Green.”
The campaigner added that he was unable to confirm just how many people are sleeping rough in the capital at the moment, but that the last count was 90 in the city centre alone.
On Monday (April 25), a man in his 30s from Limerick was found dead on St. Stephen’s Green.
However, the Limerick City and County Council have since informed RTÉ that nobody on its homeless services were notified of any locals passing away in Dublin this past week, while a spokesperson for The Dublin Regional Homeless Executive said the individual in question was not known to them.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
