STEAMING PLATES of pork chops, cabbage and potatoes were being distributed at the busy Capuchin day centre for homeless people in Bow Street, Dublin when Taoiseach Enda Kenny came to visit yesterday afternoon.
Mr Kenny stopped at every table, helping a youngster in the family area chop up his food, and spent almost an hour engaging many of the 200 diners in quiet conversation about their personal difficulties.
Observing Mr Kenny from the back of the hall was Bill Coughlan from south Tipperary, who was waiting to see a doctor in the consulting room. “It was very good to see him coming along and shaking hands and chatting to everyone as he came down, instead of a quick run through the place,” Mr Coughlan said.
“I noticed he came at 20 past one and it’s two o’clock now. He has enough moral courage to say, I should see these people and know what’s going on.
“I’m not a follower of any particular party, but he has a bit of a social conscience anyway.”
The centre’s director, Brother Kevin Crowley, who accompanied Mr Kenny, said there had been a “big jump” in the number of people attending for meals recently. About 400 food parcels were usually collected on Wednesdays, he said, but this week 2,015 were distributed.
“As well as homeless people we have the new poor: people who have lost their jobs and people on the verge of losing their homes. These are the people we try to help. We don’t ask any questions. We feel it’s difficult enough for them to come to a place like this. It has to be very difficult for them to queue up and look for [food] parcels,” Br Crowley said.
Volunteer Peter Ryan, from Springfield in Dublin, said he had observed an increase in the number of Irish men coming to the centre to use the facilities.
“We provide showers, underwear, socks, T-shirts – all new. We give them a towel, shampoo, shaving cream, razors. We do maybe 20 showers a day. We did 18 this morning,” he said.
Mr Ryan has responsibility for the family area, where a mother and her one-week-old baby were among those present yesterday. On average 10 families attend the centre every day, Mr Ryan said.
Asked what motivated him to volunteer, Mr Ryan said: “I worked in the RPA [Railway Procurement Agency]. We built the Luas. I retired. I’m a widower, so I decided I wanted to do something for Dublin and the people, so my little contribution is helping these people.”
Dublin footballer Rory O’Carroll was among the young people clearing plates before the diners moved on to their dessert: two orange-flavoured yoghurts each. “Obviously when you get to know people you hear stories and about how they ended up here. It makes you realise how lucky you are. It opens your eyes,” he said.
Sr Margaret Lackey, a retired teacher who has been helping at the centre for 10 years, said there was a sense of solidarity among those who sought help. “They are very good to each other. You see them making up cigarettes and they share them. They put some of us to shame. They certainly stand by one another.”
