“It is Victorian-era legislation,” says Mike Allen, director of advocacy at Focus Ireland. “This approach is rooted in poor law provisions and is widespread in homeless services across the world.”
Misinformation from council officials, and responses to queries that are less than true, are stopping councillors from carrying out their duties and advocating for vulnerable people, says independent Councillor Anthony Flynn.
Emails and a recorded phone call between DRHE staff and Louisa Santoro of the Mendicity Institution show how homeless people can be turned away by the council, even on nights where there are tens of spare beds.
At recent council meetings, councillors backed a plan to cut down further on using glyphosate on weeds, and voted to protect a trio of city-centre buildings.
The Santry Whitehall Forum want the empty old Hanging Garment Factory refashioned into a community centre, given the many high-rises planned for the area.
“Talk about David and Goliath,” says Tony McDonnell, gesturing upwards at the seven-storey building directly next door to his home on Mayor Street Upper in the Docklands. “Well that is Goliath.”
Over the last week or so, James Kirwan has stashed paintings along Dublin’s streets as gifts to strangers. “This is my project to cheer people up,” he says.
The cost for those reliant on Housing Assistance Payment has gone up in many cases, pushing tenants into debt and poverty as they struggle to cover “top-ups” to landlords and scrape together deposits.
For Adam Hutchinson, who features, the film was a chance to reply to those who assume horses in the inner city aren’t well looked after. “But that is not the case,” he says.
