Who was homelessness campaigner Anthony Flynn?
Dublin City Cllr Anthony Flynn was found dead yesterday. Cllr Flynn was the co-founder and director of Inner City Helping Homeless, which was to the fore in drawing public attention to the plight of homeless people in Dublin.
Dublin city councillor Anthony Flynn, who died yesterday, was best known for his work in homeless services.
Mr Flynn, who grew up on Dorset street in Dublin's north inner city, was well known in the area and worked for a time in his family's popular bar, Lloyd's.
He founded Inner City Helping Homeless in August 2013 in response to the growing number of rough sleepers in Dublin.
Members of the local community in the North Inner City came together to organise a soup run for the vulnerable there and on the first night over 40 volunteers turned up.
By 2014, ICHH was operating a seven-night-a-week outreach service all across Dublin City and secured its first premises on Killarney Street, Dublin 1.
The charity grew exponentially in the following years then moved to Amiens Street, where it remains and secured a number of vehicles, vans, and a warehouse space in order to accommodate the number of volunteers and donations they received.
In 2019, Anthony Flynn decided to run for Dublin City Council. In a statement announcing his intention to contest the elections, Mr Flynn said he had “strong ties to the local community both living and working here all of my life.”
He was elected on the 15th count to represent the North Inner City, where he became an outspoken critic of the council's homeless outreach services and the government's inability to tackle the housing crisis.
He said in 2019 that Ireland was "maintaining and sustaining homelessness".
"It’s a major problem, hundreds of millions of euros are being spent by this building behind us and they’re not producing results in regards to ending the problem," he said at the time.
In early August, Mr Flynn was suspended by the board of ICHH after allegations of sexual misconduct.
Mr Flynn was interviewed by Gardai as part of a major investigation by officers from the Divisional Protective Services Unit (DPSU) at Store Street Garda Station who probe sexual crimes. However, he was not arrested.
Mr Flynn had spent time with his family in the time since the Garda interview.
He was found dead at a property in East Wall on August 18, 2021.
Gardaí say investigations are ongoing.
