Cork Simon forced to turn people away  from shelter as temperatures reached -6C

City's emergency shelter 'packed to the rafters for several months now'

'We have been experiencing these busy nights for quite some time now. It is nothing new, but we would always be concerned for the health of people sleeping rough at any point of the year.' Picture: David Creedon

As temperatures plummeted to -6C in Cork and -7.4C in Kilkenny in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Cork Simon Community was forced to turn people away.

The facility has been "packed to the rafters for several months", according to staff.

Cork Simon campaign and communications officer Paul Sheehan said it was another busy night.

"We have been experiencing these busy nights for quite some time now. It is nothing new, but we would always be concerned for the health of people sleeping rough at any point of the year.” 

Since the start of the summer last year, the Simon Community has provided accommodation to about 74 people each night, which is the highest number of people its emergency shelter on Anderson’s Quay has held since it opened in 2017.

“Our emergency shelter has been pretty much packed to the rafters for several months now.

“When the weather gets like this, we try to create extra space by offering people a sofa in the rec room, the floor in the rec room, and any other space that may be free where somebody can ‘bed down’.

“But obviously, in the context it is safe for everybody who is staying in the shelter,” Mr Sheehan said.

Although the Simon Community cannot offer overnight accommodation to everyone who needs it, its daytime service offers a chance for homeless people to take a shower, grab a hot meal and take refuge from the cold.

“You can sense their relief to see that people are checking in on them.

"They see people who are just waking up and in some cases, our team will wake people up to make sure they are okay.

'Dickensian'

“It is Dickensian, it really is,” Mr Sheehan added.

Homeless people in Cork city can contact the Accommodation Placement Service on 021 492 4248 or call to the office on Anderson’s Street from 10am to 12pm and 2pm to 4pm Monday to Friday.

The Accommodation Placement Service is run by Cork City Council.

Similar temperatures in the capital have seen homeless services stretched and stressed.

The Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) has an extreme weather emergency protocol in place.

The DRHE has over 40 emergency beds that can be activated during extreme weather conditions.

The DRHE coordinates the response to homelessness on behalf of the four local authorities in Dublin.

It, along with the Dublin Simon Outreach Team, Housing First, the HSE, and An Garda Síochána will continue to work together to help as many people as possible.

A spokesperson for the DRHE encourages those in need of assistance to make contact with the relevant service as early as possible.

“We encourage anyone requiring emergency accommodation to contact their local authority or the freephone service early in the day.

“We would also continue to ask the public for their assistance during this time to let us know if they come across someone sleeping rough on our website, call 01 872 0185 or via our free app Dublin City Rough Sleeper Alerts, available on both Apple and Android devices.