A voluntary group for the homeless has voiced fears more rough sleepers will die on the streets of Dublin this winter.
Inner City Helping Homeless has warned that there is a “tsunami” of rough sleepers camping out in the freezing cold - with stocks of sleeping bags running low.
A Status Yellow snow and ice weather warning was lifted this morning following sub-zero conditions overnight.
Unless emergency intervention is taken to address what is now a Tsunami of rough sleepers in freezing cold conditions I'm afraid further loss of life is inevitable. #AskWhy #MyNameIs #Homelessness
— Anthony Flynn (@AnthonyICHH) November 25, 2017
ICCH chief executive Anthony Flynn is calling for emergency interventions to avoid further homeless deaths this Christmas.
“We need intervention immediately,” he said. “We need buildings opened, we need supports put in place.”
“We have the voluntary sector with an overreliance now in regard to implementing supports.
“The overreliance on the voluntary sector is going to burst at some stage.
“We can’t keep doing what we are doing; the problem is a tsunami; it is an epidemic right across the city and we need intervention immediately.”
The charity has launched an online appeal for donations to allow it to continue to provide basic comforts to people sleeping out in the cold.
We urgently need your help! As freezing weather conditions persist across the city are sleeping bag stocks are depleting. Please click the link below and donate to our annual winter sleeping bag appeal.
You can call 01888104/015556652 #AskWhy https://t.co/xLkIncXsah pic.twitter.com/aUsXLkVBfR
— Anthony Flynn (@AnthonyICHH) November 25, 2017
The Government has confirmed plans to bring 200 additional permanent emergency beds into use by December 18th, however Mr Flynn warned that people will die unless an emergency intervention is made now.
“We can’t take these people off the streets and what we are seeing is a lack of sleeping bags on our own end; we are looking for support in regard to that,” he said.
“But unless we actually open up buildings and we get people off the streets, we are going to see deaths on the street over the next couple of weeks.”
The latest survey from the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive (DRHE) found a total of 184 people were sleeping rough across the Dublin region on the night of November 7th.