Charity fears rough sleeper numbers is at crisis point

There were 177 people found sleeping on the streets of Dublin by a homeless charity on Thursday night.

Inner City Helping Homeless (ICHH) is concerned that the number of rough sleepers in the city continues to increase.

On Wednesday night, the charity, formed last November, found 154 rough sleepers.

ICHH director Anthony Flynn said the tsunami had hit and the homeless situation was only going to get worse.

Volunteers gave food and clothes to the 177 people found sleeping rough in the city centre on Thursday night.

It was the highest number recorded by the charity, which is seeking to eliminate homeless in the city.

During the night, volunteers found a mother and father with a young child under the age of 10.

Last month, the volunteer-led charity found and helped a pregnant women sleeping rough on Dublin’s streets.

“Intervention is required. We just cannot continue the way we are,” said Mr Flynn.

The charity has called for a crisis homeless committee to be established so the minister responsible and concerned agencies could be brought together to find solutions.

ICHH, which distributes food and clothes parcels to the homeless, is also concerned that it will be one of the losers if the Garth Brooks concerts are cancelled. The group has permits to collect money for two of the star’s dates.

The charity was hoping that the two bucket collections at Croke Park would cover their costs over the next two months.

About 2,500 people currently live in emergency or transitional accommodation in Ireland.

Last month, Fr Peter McVerry, who works with homeless young people in Dublin, warned that Ireland was facing a “tsunami of homelessness”.

Fr McVerry claimed the problem was the worst he had experienced in more than 40 years.

He said the Peter McVerry Trust was having to turn people away for the first time as demand outstripped the supply of beds.

Last weekend, Br Kevin Crowley, the head of a Capuchin Day Centre that feeds hundreds of homeless people every day, urged the Government to do something about the crisis — not just talk about it.

The centre in Dublin that Br Kevin Crowley established in 1969 is busier than ever; it provides meals to some 4,000 people a week and distributes 1,200 food parcels.