Rising homelessness - Vulnerable repeatedly failed here

The great Indian nationalist Mahatma Gandhi once declared that “the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members”.

Accordingly, it would appear that we in Ireland fail to measure up to any moral yardstick when it comes to the way we deal with our weakest citizens, those in the shadows of life: the sick, the needy and the poor.

If anything illustrates the demise of the Celtic Tiger it is the growing number of homeless people seen on the streets of our towns and cities. And, according to a group that has spent 30 years working with them, the situation is worse than it ever has been.