Tackling homelessness - Council plan is shocking

In April of this year, the disclosure that Josef Pavelka, a homeless Czech national, was living in the superloos with a Polish friend in Ennis received national attention.

Judge Patrick Durcan described this as a scandal. Mr Pavelka had come to Ireland six years ago to work in the construction industry, but had developed a chronic addiction to alcohol.

After being told that Mr Pavelka needed a habitual residency to avail of state services, Judge Durcan became understandably irritated. “That is balderdash,” he said. “This is a case of a man who needs help and surely there are caring agencies of some kind in this town of Ennis who can help him.”

Mr Pavelka was found dead in an Ennis laneway in early May, and his plight was further highlighted. Local priests stressed that it was important to mourn his passing and to ensure that it does not happen again.

Now Ennis Town Council is upgrading security measures for its €70,000-per-annum superloos to prevent homeless people sheltering in them. If this is the council’s answer to homelessness, maybe we should all be welcoming the plans to reorganise local government.