It has issued a tender for a feasibility study. The documents include few details, but they do confirm the likely future uses for the historic building.
“What gives me hope is seeing ordinary people organising to help each other when they’ve been so utterly failed by their government. With this illustration I hope to highlight and celebrate that,” writes illustrator Karen Vaughan.
Maybe they should remain in state care until they have somewhere else to go. Or maybe the council should ring-fence some social homes specifically for care leavers who need them.
Neither Tusla nor the Dublin Region Homeless Executive have accessible data around how many, but some say they should. “We can only address a problem properly when we understand the scale of it.”
Facilities “are not employing qualified, trained case workers to deal with the complex issues”, says Anthony Flynn, CEO of Inner City Helping Homeless.
Homeless HAP rates, which are higher, should be available to people earlier, say some Dublin councillors – although that raises questions about inflation of rents.
To use his nebuliser, he needs a plug. It’s not a problem when he’s in hospital or within easy reach of a socket. It’s different when he’s left on the streets.
Figures suggest that what the council pays for homeless-hostel beds has risen. But it’s really hard to tell, which is a problem in itself, councillors say.
Oppressive rules mean homeless families placed in The Bonnington hotel face a hostile environment, according to people who’ve been through it. Their complaints have fallen on deaf ears, they say.
“This isn’t just about homelessness,” says Alice Leahy. “This is much broader than that. It is as if we have become so informed that we are forgetting about the basics.”
This month’s cover is a pastiche of the “Doors of Dublin” poster and postcard, substituting its polished Georgian doors with doors to vacant buildings and makeshift homes.
