Garda probe as elderly homeless man found dead on Limerick street
An investigation is underway after an elderly man who was sleeping rough was found dead on a street in Limerick.
The man, who is in his 70s and who is believed to have been from Poland originally, was found dead on Limerick Lane in the city centre just before 8am today, Friday.
It's understood that he had spent most of the previous night sleeping in that spot.
He had been well-known to homeless support groups in the city for some time.
He had engaged with services as recently as last week although it's not yet clear if he had engaged with services to seek shelter last night.
Temperatures have plunged below freezing over recent nights.
Gardaí said they are investigating all the circumstances involved in the man's death.
His remains were taken to University Hospital Limerick for a post mortem.
However, the death is not being treated as suspicious.
The pandemic has forced homeless charities and agencies to reconfigure their emergency shelters to facilitate social distancing, thereby reducing their bed capacity.
Some have off-set the loss of these shelter beds through the provision of emergency accommodation elsewhere.
The groups have also had to reconfigure the delivery of many of their services.
