Sister Stan: 'Homelessness damages children most of all'

'Being homeless causes people terrible trauma and it damages children the most,' Sr Stan said in Cork yesterday at the launch of 16 new Focus Ireland homes. Picture: iStock

Homelessness damages children the most, Focus Ireland founder Sr Stanislaus Kennedy has warned as the moratorium on evictions was lifted from today — which campaigners have said will lead to a tsunami of homelessness.

The veteran campaigner said the housing crisis is now the worst she has seen in some 40 years of activism, with the latest figures showing 11,742 people in emergency homeless accommodation as of last month. 

The eviction moratorium should have been extended until adequate supports were put in place to protect people, she said, adding that new government policies will not be operational in time for many tenants being served eviction notices now.

However, after a bruising week, during which the Government survived two confidence motions on the eviction ban, Tánaiste Micheál Martin insisted that maintaining the ban would increase homelessness in the long term. 

Sr Stanislaus Kennedy addressing a gathering in Cork that included Focus Ireland staff, tenants, and public representatives including Tánaiste Micheál Martin. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan

Mr Martin said Government policies such as the tenant in-situ scheme were already being used, with Cork City Council alone processing 60 applications, with another 60 in the pipeline. 

A further 1,000 homes are to be leased by local authorities for people who may become homeless and a capital scheme would boost supply from approved housing bodies, he said.

Speaking at the opening of 16 new Focus Ireland homes in a previously derelict building in Cork City, Sr Kennedy said while the eviction ban was not a long-term solution, extending it now was “essential” to allow Government time to devise a “workable plan.” 

Sr Stan called for an “all-party” approach to solving the housing crisis and prevent further damage to families across the country.  

"Being homeless causes people terrible trauma and it damages children the most," she said, adding: 

It is shameful that over 3,500 children are currently homeless in Ireland and the decision to end the ban will bring the trauma caused by homelessness to many more families and individuals. 

"This could and should have been prevented," she said. 

"It causes me great sadness to say that this is the worst I have ever seen homelessness in Ireland since we first set up Focus Ireland almost 40 years ago.

“The deepening crisis is awful to see, and it makes me angry. You must get angry as it gives you the energy to do something. 

Sr Stan, the founder of Focus Ireland, said: "There is a saying that anger has two daughters, and they are courage and hope," adding:  

When you become angry, it gives you courage to act — and this brings hope.

Figures compiled by the Department of Housing show that there were 8,369 adults and 3,373 children who were homeless in February.

This represents a slight decrease on the 11,754 people recorded as being homeless in January, and the first time there has not been a new record high struck in the official figures in over six months.

Focus Ireland said this figure still represented a 24% rise in homelessness over 12 months, while the Simon Communities said the slight fall indicated that the eviction ban was "doing its work". 

Labour leader Ivana Bacik condemned the decision to lift the eviction ban and said the Government has no substantial plans to address the issue.

Focus Ireland CEO Pat Dennigan speaking to the 'Irish Examiner' and other media at the launch of 16 new homes on the Grand Parade in the heart of Cork City. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan

“Given the sustained high levels of homelessness revealed in the statistics published on Friday, I would imagine that many in Government are wondering if they have confidence in the approach taken to lift the eviction ban," she said.

One Cork family impacted by the scrapping of the evictions moratorium are Rebecca O’Riordan, her husband, Ger and their two children, Noah, 10, and Emmy, 3.

The family may be forced to emigrate after receiving a notice to quit the rented house they have lived in for five years.

“We got the call six weeks ago, and when we found out, I started taking down my children’s artwork, slowly detaching my emotions from the house,” Rebecca, a carer who studies law by night at University College Cork, said.

Tenant Timmy Harrington showing Tánaiste Micheál Martin around the new Focus Ireland homes on the Grand Parade in Cork. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan

“We made this place our home, and then you get a call, and it reminds you that this was never your home,” she said.

Rebecca’s husband Ger works full time at a financial institution. They had been saving for a house and had the eviction ban been extended until January 2024, they would have had their deposit, he said.