Streets take heavy toll as homeless deaths rise

More than 50 homeless people die on the streets each year with a growing number subjected to sexual and physical assaults.

Figures released by the Simon Community show people who live rough are 150 times more likely to be fatally assaulted, 35% more likely to commit suicide and die at an average age of 42.

Since October, 13 homeless people died in Cork. Officials at Simon in Dublin said figures there are much higher because of the larger number living rough.

In the past three years, as many as 12 people have died in Galway, with six losing their lives in Limerick.

In response to the alarming death toll in Cork, residents of the Simon shelter have hung a wreath at the entrance to the premises in memory of their lost friends.

Cork Simon project manager Aaron O’Connell said the increase in deaths was traumatic for both staff and the homeless community.

“It calls people’s vulnerability into question and it brings home the great disadvantage they are at.”

A number of the deaths occurred at the Simon premises with others dying in squats or on the streets, Mr O’Connell said. “Some died prematurely but when you’re living a lifestyle that’s pretty chaotic, without access to four square meals a day or the normal comforts we take for granted, it has to have a major impact on a person’s ability to cope and their body to cope. The street can ravage people in many different ways.”

Voluntary housing agency Focus Ireland said upwards of 6,000 people are homeless. Spokesman Roughan McNamara said almost 3,000 are in Dublin.

“A survey found two-thirds of those left out of health board care and one-third of those out of detention centres ended up on the streets within two years.”

He added the number of deaths highlighted the link between lack of access to services, particularly medical services, among homeless people.

There is also growing evidence low-paid workers in Dublin are starting to fall into the homeless trap because they cannot afford accommodation.