Cork Simon director ‘shocked’ at homelessness comments

Comments by a local authority official, that homelessness takes “years of bad behaviour”, showed no awareness of the role trauma plays in people’s lives, according to the director of Cork Simon.

Dermot Kavanagh said Eileen Gleeson, director of the Dublin Region Homelessness Executive, “seemed to be almost suggesting that people, if they are homeless, it’s in some way their own fault”.

“First of all, there are a lot of people who become homeless simply as an aspect of poverty,” said Mr Kavanagh, adding that “homelessness itself is an extremely traumatic experience”.