> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.dublininquirer.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Homeless hostel closed earlier this year had fire-safety deficiencies since 2018 - URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/homeless-hostel-closed-earlier-this-year-had-fire-safety-deficiencies-since-2018/ - Published: 2026-10-16T00:24:19.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-16T00:26:42.000Z - Description: But until earlier this year, people had been sleeping in the 125-bed hostel. - Author: Laoise Neylon - Tags: fire safety, homelessness, City Desk A homeless hostel on St Stephen's Green that was closed earlier this year because it wasn't fire-safe hadn't had a valid fire certificate since 2018\. But in the years since then, people were sleeping in the 125-bed hostel, operated by the Peter McVerry Trust (PMVT). Meanwhile, Dublin City Council – the fire-safety authority via its Dublin Fire Brigade – was placing people in this hostel without a valid fire cert, via the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE). After the PMVT took over the building in 2018, it carried out works to increase the capacity, Francis Doherty, a former CEO of the PMVT, [told](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28814978-pac-nov-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee last year. “These invalidated the fire certificate to such an extent that Dublin Fire Brigade wanted to shut the property down,” he said. But the hostel operated like that for years.The fire-safety issues were not rectified between the service [opening](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28815029-homelessness-financial-report-end-of-year-2018-dublin/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in 2018 and late 2024, Doherty told the Dáil committee. If the hostel had closed, the DRHE would have stopped paying to cover the rent for the building, leaving the trust on the hook for the lease, he said. It wasn't until early 2026 that Dublin Fire Brigade issued a fire-safety notice, prompting PMVT to move everyone out by May, according to a [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28813237-audit-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by the Local Government Audit Service. Meanwhile, "the lease remains in place at an annual rental cost of approximately €1.35m over a 20 year term, resulting in a significant ongoing financial commitment for PMVT in respect of a currently vacant property", according to the [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28813237-audit-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com). There is no clear path to reopening the hostel fully yet, according to the report, which was presented to Dublin city councillors at their monthly meeting on 5 October. A spokesperson for PMVT said the charity is engaging with the Fire Brigade. "The matters involved are complex, and we have followed all guidance provided throughout this process." It's not just this one hostel, run by this one charity, though. Fire safety in homeless hostels has been an ongoing issue in the Dublin City Council area. In 2021, Dublin Fire Brigade records showed that at least six hostels [didn't have a valid fire cert](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-a-hostel-on-ellis-quay-homeless-people-share-rooms-with-no-windows/) for their existing use as homeless hostels, which is a very high-risk use. Records released under the Freedom of Information Act in 2022 showed that in 2020 at least seven hostels were operating [without valid fire certs](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-a-hostel-on-ellis-quay-homeless-people-share-rooms-with-no-windows/) for use as a homeless hostel, which is a very high-risk use. “How is it possible for Dublin City Council – which is the relevant fire authority – to source accommodation without fire certs?” said Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan speaking inFebruary 2021\. In response to the audit, Dublin City Council's chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, said that "In the DRHE’s current procedures all proposals are subject to the buildings being compliant with Planning, Disability Access Certification, Fire Certification, location and meeting an appropriate standard of accommodation." "In all cases these are now confirmed before financial support under Section 10 is given," he said. ## The hostel on Stephen's Green In 2018, the PMVT signed a 20-year lease for the St Stephen’s Green Hostel with financial support from the Department of Housing, the Local Government Audit Service audit says. It then carried out refurbishment works costing €2.9 million. After that, the Peter McVerry Trust recouped the costs from the Department and opened the hostel to accommodate up to 125 people, says the report. The DRHE paid the trust €1.1 million to accommodate 115 people there for part of 2018 according to [financial records.](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/28815029/homelessness-financial-report-end-of-year-2018-dublin.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) “Over the course of a number of formal inspections, Dublin Fire Brigade identified significant deficiencies in fire safety, including the works that had been undertaken prior to the building becoming operational,” says the audit report. The trust engaged with the Dublin Fire Brigade and held a series of meetings and consultations aimed at resolving the outstanding concerns, it says. At some point prior to late 2024 the Fire Brigade was keen to close the hostel, Doherty told the Public Accounts Committee last year. “It was an extreme point where the fire brigade was saying the building needed to be shut down,” he said. Certain construction works that were needed to meet fire safety standards were not undertaken, he said. According to the [audit report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28813237-audit-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com), the trust didn't even get planning permission to carry out the works necessary to meet fire-safety standards. “Planning permission has not yet been obtained for the fire safety remedial works required to address the deficiencies identified,” it says. The building is a protected structure, potentially making the work more complicated and more expensive, it says. The audit report says construction works to make the building safe to accommodate 86 people would cost around €2.3 million, excluding VAT. There is no cost estimate available for the works required to bring the building up to fire-safety standards for 115 to 125 people. “To return to full capacity is not yet costed in addition to professional fees and design team costs,” says the audit report. Dublin City Council has not yet responded to multiple queries about St Stephen's Green, including whether this building ever had a valid fire safety certificate for its use as a homeless hostel. However, in his response to the audit report, the council's chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, put the blame on the PMVT. "Responsibility for the deficiencies in fire safety compliance rests with the leaseholder/owner of the building," he wrote. "Nonetheless, the DRHE consistently made clear to PMVT that addressing the issues raised by Dublin Fire Brigade was a priority." In July, the Peter McVerry Trust [tendered](https://www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/cft/prepareViewCfTWS.do?resourceId=8638328&ref=dublininquirer.com) for a company to carry out a Fire Risk Assessment of [56 buildings](https://www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/cft/listContractDocuments.do?resourceId=8638328&ref=dublininquirer.com), including 34 homeless hostels, eight aftercare accommodation facilities for young people leaving state care, and six children’s homes. The organisation issued that tender "as part of a planned move to a nationwide procurement model and are not connected to the issues identified at St Stephen's Green", the spokesperson for the Peter McVerry Trust said Thursday. "Fire safety compliance is an ongoing process across our property portfolio, involving regular assessments, inspections and improvement works where required," she said. "We continue to work with the relevant authorities and specialist advisors to ensure our properties meet the appropriate safety standards for their use and occupants." No other hostels the trust operates – aside from the St Stephen's Green one – have been served fire-safety notices, or closed down since 2020, she said. ## Fire safety in hostels Previous investigations in 2021 and 2022 into fire-safety compliance in homeless hostels revealed widespread non-compliance, including that at least seven hostels had no fire cert in place for their use as a homeless hostel in 2020\. At that time, the addresses facing enforcement action that were revealed were all buildings operated by private, for-profit operators, rather than homeless charities, the records show. In 2022, records released under the Freedom of Information Act showed [multiple breaches of fire safety](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-funded-homeless-hostels-breached-fire-safety-standards-in-multiple-ways-records-show/) in homeless hostels that were occupied. For example, in July 2019, a fire-safety assessment [found significant breaches](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22127484-record-22-redacted?ref=dublininquirer.com) of fire-safety standards at a Dublin City Council-funded homeless hostel at 32 North Circular Road, a three-storey red-brick terraced house. The hostel didn’t have a valid fire-safety certificate and, among other issues, people were sleeping in inner bedrooms where the only way out was through a kitchen and the bedrooms had no fire alarms. Some hostel doors weren’t fire doors and some outer escape doors didn’t open easily. The boiler room wasn’t fireproofed, and the fire alarm and fire extinguishers hadn’t been tested. “In some instances there were electrical cables exposed,” says the assessment. In that case, it took two years for the proprietor to carry out the necessary works and to achieve a fire cert. In 2021 some hostels [closed to carry out works](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-closes-homeless-hostels-to-make-compliant-with-fire-safety-standards/)to achieve fire-safety compliance. “Back in 2019 and 2020 when we raised issues we clearly had a problem,” says Green Party Councillor Janet Horner. “After that, a course of action was taken.” The council introduced building inspections for homeless hostels with a focus on fire safety, she says. “I now feel there is a higher standard in place,” she says, “with a greater emphasis on fire safety.” She wants to know why that inspection process didn’t flag issues at St Stephen’s Green hostel earlier, she says. What is an acceptable length of time to bring a building into fire safety compliance? “Is it normal to allow a situation to go on for seven years?” she says. The Department of Housing spokesperson, asked about its oversight of funding for hostels that don’t meet fire safety, said this is an issue for the local authority. “The Department does not fund any homeless service directly but provides funding to housing authorities towards the operational costs of homeless accommodation and related services,” he said.