Taoiseach is trying to blame City Council for homelessness, says former Dublin mayor

Additional reporting by Daniel McConnell, political editor

Former Lord Mayor of Dublin, independent councillor Niall Ring has accused the Taoiseach of politicising the tragic circumstances in which a homeless man was seriously injured when his tent was lifted by Waterways Ireland.

Cllr Ring told Newstalk Breakfast that the Taoiseach had attempted to deflect blame for the incident to the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Paul McAuliffe who is a Fianna Fáil candidate in the general election in the Dublin North-West constituency.

“Deflecting like that was reprehensible, it was politicising the office (of Lord Mayor).”

Asked about the incident by reporters at a campaign event in Monaghan on Wednesday, Mr Varadkar said he was “concerned” and called on Cllr McAuliffe to make a statement about it.

“That was done purely for political gain,” claimed Cllr Ring.

He went on to paraphrase the Fine Gael election slogan that it was “Half time in Brexit” … “this Government is out of touch, if you’re not playing well, you are taken off at half time. They should be taken out of office.”

Cllr Ring said “the buck stops with the Taoiseach. He controls the purse strings and policy.”

It was up to the Government to ensure that Dublin City Council had enough money to build houses on council land, he added. “Blaming is not taking responsibility. The Taoiseach is trying to blame Dublin City Council for homelessness.”

Mr Varadkar insisted he never sought to make the shocking incident

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“In terms of what the lord mayor has to say, I have never sought to make homelessness a party political issue,” he said.

It is a very complicated social issue that every country struggles with. I have never sought to make it a party political issue and I think, if anything, we have been on the receiving end of that rather than the perpetrators of it.

Members of the Gardaí at the scene along the Grand Canal in Dublin. Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins

On RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, homeless campaigner Fr Peter McVerry explained that many homeless people do not feel safe in hostels because of open drug use and the theft of their belongings.

“People feel safer in tents, they are with people they know. There is a sense of comradeship.”

Fr McVerry denied that it was harder to make contact with homeless people sleeping in tents, it was harder to get them into roofed accommodation because they were too frightened.

Asking people who were drug free to stay in the same room as someone openly shooting up heroin or smoking crack was immoral, he said, “but that’s the reality. People have no idea who they are going to be sharing with in a hostel”

“Shared accommodation is a disaster.”

Fr McVerry called for a comprehensive examination of hostels and the services they offer.