Picketing Cork Debenhams staff find homeless man asleep in bin 

Former Debenhams workers were particularly moved by the poignant image of a man who had started sleeping at the entrance under a picket sign they erected which says "The Taoiseach has let us down badly". Picture: Larry Cummins

Former Debenhams workers picketing in Cork have appealed to waste companies to be vigilant while emptying bins after two women on an early morning shift found a homeless man sleeping inside a green bin.

Claire O'Leary of Watergrasshill in Co Cork was on a socially distanced picket outside the Patrick Street store with a colleague when they made the discovery.

"My colleague lifted the lid on the bin to throw away a coffee cup and she said 'there is someone in there ... there is someone in there' and she put it [the lid] down again. She got such a fright.

"There was a workman passing down. She said it to him and he went down and had a look and the man was just asleep. The main worry was that the bin men would come and empty the bins. 

We have seen it in Dublin where a bin was emptied and a person was killed. They [homeless people] mean no harm. They are only trying to stay in from the elements."

Meanwhile, Elaine Kelleher, who was also on the Debenhams picket on Patrick Street, said what they had seen on the streets outside the store over the last 285 days feels like "another world".

Ms Kelleher said they were particularly moved by the poignant image of a man who had started sleeping at the entrance under a picket sign they erected which says "The Taoiseach has let us down badly".

"When we were working in the store we saw people begging for money on the street but in the last nine months we have really seen and spoken to homeless people. We have fed them, we have chatted to people and are on first-name basis with some people. They have given us their life stories.

One guy said to me that he was going to die on the streets. This was Christmas week. He said he was going to die of cold. He already has a weak chest."

Meanwhile, earlier this month the Mandate trade union, which represents 1,000 former Debenhams workers, urged Taoiseach Micheál Martin to make €3m available to the workers in cash payments rather than upskilling supports.

The workers had rejected settlement proposals which centred on a €3m training and upskilling fund to be made available to impacted employees.

Claire O'Leary had her first day back on the picket earlier this week after giving birth to daughter Grace 10 weeks ago.

She says former Debenhams workers want a resolution. They never imagined the Government wouldn't come to their assistance "in the midst of a pandemic and with the weather turning ever more inclement in the winter."

She said they were picketing in very small numbers to maintain a presence onsite. 

However, Ms O'Leary said they were heartbroken at the havoc the callousness of the Debenhams closure has heaped on their lives.

"Even if they gave us the €3m, so we would be walking away with something in our pockets. We also want to get the Bill passed so this doesn't happen to other people. We have had politicians come down the lane for a photo op. And then they voted against us.

"I thought the Government wouldn't allow the staff to picket at Christmas. But they did."