“We have waited too long; we desperately need the department to fund this,” says Shay L’Estrange, coordinator with Ballyfermot Traveller Action Project.
A steep fall in commercial rates paid to the council, a plan to borrow to build a new hub for council workers, and piloting a place for people to wash.
It’s unclear how much it would have cost to get consultants to do it instead, because none would have the knowledge or access that residents have, said a council spokesperson.
However, the CEO of an organisation representing companies that provide home care says its members “have sufficient supply of enhanced PPE at the moment”.
The students, academics and architects behind Open Heart City have researched and mapped the site – before pitching diverse ideas for how it could be developed.
“We see these changes coming in place for at least a year, and then some of them might be in place for a more permanent project,” says Brendan O’Brien, the council’s executive engineer for traffic.
In many homeless hostels and repurposed hotels around Dublin, homeless people have been given their own rooms to socially distance. Things can’t go back to the way they were, some say.
Dublin City Council has had to cancel or postpone some meetings in light of Covid-19 restrictions, but there are plans to go ahead with the May monthly meeting, albeit with fewer councillors in attendance.
