AGENCIES SERVING homeless people in Cork say nobody will be turned away from shelter this Christmas as bitterly cold conditions prompt an amalgamation of emergency services.
With temperatures plummeting around the country, Cork city’s four hostels serving the homeless have co-ordinated their services to ensure provision of a bed for every person seeking shelter.
The St Vincent de Paul hostel on Anglesea Street, Edel House residential centre on Grattan Street, Cuan Lee refuge at Kyrls Quay and the Cork Simon Emergency Centre on Anderson’s Quay will not turn away anyone in need of shelter for the duration of the current cold snap.
The four hostels, which provide a total of 160 beds, will continue to operate the emergency policy over Christmas and into the new year, as long as the cold snap continues.
Paul Sheehan of Cork’s Simon Community said no one sleeping rough could survive the past few nights, with temperatures dipping to minus four degrees in the city.
The Cork Simon shelter, which provides 44 emergency beds, is full every night. Before bitterly cold conditions saw overnight temperatures plunge, the Cork Simon shelter was turning away an average of seven people per night.
The figure reached a summer peak in June, with an average of 11 people being forced to find alternative accommodation.