Political inaction hits vulnerable

FEW are better placed to understand the plight of Ireland’s homeless people than Fr Peter McVerry.

A tireless champion of the hundreds sleeping rough on the streets of our cities, his strong criticism of the lack of political will to tackle this growing problem is fully warranted.

Nor could there be a more graphic illustration of the horrors of a life virtually lost to addiction than the harrowing revelations in today’s letter written by a homeless man, Stephen Harris, depicting a frightening descent into alcoholism, drugs and violence.

Since 1996, as reflected in an Irish Examiner series, the crisis of homelessness has doubled. So, too, has the country’s gross national product.

But despite a dramatic increase in personal wealth, the rate at which homeless people are falling through the net is alarming.

The fact that more than half of the children who end up sleeping rough go on to experience homelessness as adults is a damning indictment of the failure to salvage the most vulnerable in society.

Because of political inaction, they continue to be victimised in today’s hidden Ireland.