This article is from page 6 of the 2006-03-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
ONE of the country’s leading campaigners for the homeless has backed a proposal for a homeless hostel in Ennis.
Fr Peter McVerry, who has long championed the cause of homeless people through his work with the Arrupe Society, was in Ennis last week to speak to parishioners at Ennis Cathedral to mark the season of lent. After the mass, he told The Clare People that the provision of adequate housing and hostel services for the county’s homeless would only be beneficial in the long run.
“I would always say that the neighbourhood is actually much safer when people have somewhere they stay rather than out on the streets. If they are out on the streets then they are going to be far more trouble to the local community.
“A kid that is tucked up in bed at two o’clock in the night is not out robbing the neighbours. The neighbourhood is safer when we provide these services. If we fail to provide these services, then these people become increasingly angry, increasingly desperate. It creates more fear and more insecurity for the neighbourhood.
“I think leaving people to sleep rough on the streets has no benefit to anybody in the community”.
In December, the Society of St Vincent de Paul announced that the number of people presenting as homeless to Clare County Council’s homeless unit had doubled since 2003 from 247 to 544 last year.
The organisation intends lodging plans with Ennis Town Council for the development of a homeless hostel. But it has stated that it has encountered difficulties in acquiring a site.
Fr McVerry said he understood the concerns of local communities in relation to homeless hostels, but that from his own experiences working in Ballymun, people had little to fear.
“I think that the real issue is how the hostel is managed.
“If it is properly funded and managed, local people have very little to fear, but I can understand the fears.
“It is a major problem trying to get a location. If it is managed and funded by a really reputable body then I think local people have very little to fear”.
But Fr McVerry said the Government remained uncommitted to social and affordable housing, which would help alleviate homelessness.
“The social housing waiting lists doubled throughout the core years of the Celtic Tiger. They are now at an all-time high”.