This article is from page 12 of the 2006-09-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
PLANS have been lodged by the St Vincent de Paul to convert a former B&B on the Clare Road in Ennis into a hostel for the homeless.
The cost of purchasing Laurel Lodge and refurbishing the home to allow it accommodate 13 men is €2.1 million.
The need for a hostel was identified as far back as 1998 when SVP carried out a survey that showed that over the course of one year, over 200 presented themselves to the Ennis Cathedral presbytery as homeless. Since then, two people have died sleeping rough in Ennis.
The latest statistics from Clare County Council show that there are 16 homeless people being permanently accommodated in hotels or B&Bs, while four people are sleeping rough in Ennis with B&Bs not even an option.
According to the Clare Homeless Forum the numbers of persons accessing the homeless unit and seeking accommodation rose from 267 in 2003 to 544 in 2004. Some 490 people accessed the services of the homeless unit in 2005.
Chair of the Council’s Special Policy Committee for Housing, Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) told The Clare People that he expected the first occupants of the hostel to be in place early in the New Year.
In a statement submitted with the planning application, St Vincent de Paul confirmed that the project would provide emergency accommodation for 13 men and the hostel would act as a centre of care, support, information and advice to those experiencing homelessness. SVP also lay out a number of approaches to ensure that the hostel’s residents don’t have a disruptive impact on the neighbours in the Clare Road area.