FOR THE first time in two years, Irish people are outnumbering non-Irish people making their first visit to the homeless charity Trust.
The numbers of Irish people first exceeded the non-Irish in March and Trust director Alice Leahy said the trend had continued in April.
Previously, immigrants from eastern Europe accounted for more than half of the homeless people who called to the Dublin city centre premises every morning for hot showers and medical and related services.
Ms Leahy said the centre was dealing with about 60 people every morning now “which is quite a lot for us”.
Trust provides hot drinks and gives out clothes and shoes where needed. It also provides a chiropody service and has access to an optician, dentist, practice nurse and local GPs.
She said the increase in Irish visitors was not surprising in the current climate. While callers were not asked for any personal details, many people volunteered information when they felt comfortable with their surroundings, she said. They told familiar stories of losing jobs and accommodation and getting involved in alcohol or substance abuse.
She said it was difficult to trace where the immigrants had gone but it was obvious that some had returned home while others had died as a result of ill-health and living on the streets.
She recalled one Lithuanian man who had died and was buried here without his family as they could not make the journey.
According to the Department of Social and Family Affairs, there was a 57 per cent drop in the number of citizens from the EU’s newer member states granted PPS numbers here between January and March when compared with the previous period last year.
The reduction was even greater among Polish migrants, with their take-up of PPS numbers falling by 62 per cent over the same period.
A similarly steep decline in the number of work permits issued to non-EU migrants was recorded over the same period.
Ms Leahy said she had also noticed “an awful lot of anger and frustration” coming from people who were seeking help for the first time.
“People are getting very angry and there’s a lot of heavy drinking. Working with these people can be very difficult and I always say to them, ‘there’s no point in getting angry with us’.
“They don’t know who to direct their anger at. There’s terrible tension now, much more than before.”
