“A force bigger than life itself,” said a eulogy by O’Neill’s friend Carmel Jennings. “Working-class warrior,” said Rita Fagan, another friend of O’Neill’s.
“There is this talk of social mix, but … there is no concerted effort to hold onto the fabric of the long generations of families who have lived here,” says Máirín Ó Cuireáin, a community worker.
Some are concerned that many workers on building sites are falsely being classed as self-employed to keep costs down. It means they’ll miss out on supports if they lose their jobs.
The Garda Press Office said they aren’t running a specific operation right now. But some say Gardaí have been more active in moving people on, and charging them with begging-related offences.
New standards for homeless services call for feedback from people who use them. But some say they’re afraid they’ll be punished if they complain to officials.
The plan is to sell the council-owned property to be developed by a hotel company, but councillors have the power to put a stop to this, and several say they’d like to.
Sonia Traynor feels she was duped into accepting the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme, which offers no more stability than any other private rented tenancy.
