Homeless people ‘may not know of extra beds’
Alice Leahy, head of Trust Ireland, said while details of a cold weather shelter had been circulated by Dublin City Council last November, it had not been highlighted by anyone at statutory level in recent weeks.
She said it was impossible for homeless people to know where the extra beds were. Dublin City Council’s cold weather initiative in the city centre area is for entrenched rough sleepers who are not in regular contact with homeless services and who are sleeping rough during very cold weather.
It began last November and the service operates an open door, and first come, first placed policy.
Ms Leahy said trust had received an email about it but there was no address of where beds were available.
“When we phoned up we discovered it was Cedar House run by the Salvation Army,” she said.
“I phoned recently, early at night time and there were no beds available there. The reality is that we have cold snaps like this and we have been dealing with situations like this for years but the problem now is how do people know,” Ms Leahy said.
“We have people sleeping in cars and squats who are coping and who will never move into long term accommodation but who might make use of cold weather beds if they knew how and where to access them. The freephone number that operates all year round is 1800-724-724. Any number like this should be on bus shelters etc, and not just available to people who are working with people who are homeless. If people know what they are entitled to they might look for it.”
