Number of rough sleepers in Cork City has jumped by almost 40%

The number of people who turned to Cork Simon for help last year increased by 9% to nearly 1,500

Rough sleeping had all but been eliminated in Cork City before the economic crash in the late 2000s. Picture: PA

The number of rough sleepers and long-term homeless in Cork City has jumped by more than a third as the scale and complexity of the homeless crisis worsens.

Stark new figures from Cork Simon show that its outreach team met 577 men and women sleeping rough in 2023 — a 39% increase compared to 2022. They also met an average of 30 people sleeping rough every night — a staggering 135% increase on the previous year.