Homeless people suffering from long vanished ailments

Homeless people are presenting with conditions “long disappeared” such as trench foot and impetigo, leg ulcers and gangrene, social justice campaigner Alice Leahy has said.

Ms Leahy, director of independent charity Trust, said she and her team often meet people who are suffering from malnutrition and medical ailments associated with extreme poverty. Many of those who suffer in this way are from eastern Europe, she said.

The service, a social and health facility in Dublin City, is meeting increasing numbers of people who were re-settled in unsuitable accommodation, Ms Leahy said and then find themselves homeless again, an experience that often makes them more isolated.