Michael Clifford: Tents are symptom of hands-off State

Just as with the building of public housing over the past three decades, the State has also retreated from direct responsibility for catering for homeless individuals

Dublin City Council chief executive Owen Keegan suggested ‘well-intended’ homeless volunteers are sustaining people sleeping in tents on the streets of the capital. File picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

ONE of the most disturbing sights in the State’s cities in recent years has been the proliferation of tents, where people without homes are sleeping.

These tents are pitched on the street and in various locations around the cities, including parks, the suburbs, and in commercial hubs.