HOMELESS:THE LOCATION of an emergency cold weather hostel in Dublin should be made public, one of the foremost campaigners for homeless people has said.
Alice Leahy, founder of the Trust charity, has described as “plain daft” the refusal of Dublin City Council to publicise the emergency hostel’s location.
The emergency hostel, provided as part of the annual Cold Weather Initiative, is on the North Circular Road, Phibsborough.
A spokeswoman for the Homeless Agency said the exact location had been provided to homeless outreach teams who were in contact with people begging and sleeping rough “who may be resistant to accessing existing services”.
“The reason for this is to ensure this service is not used as an alternative form of accommodation for people who are already using existing services,” she said.
She also said it was to protect services users’ identity.
Ms Leahy said: “It sounds like they don’t want too many people turning up. Sure wouldn’t the hospital run great if there were no patients?”
She said it was vital that the location be widely advertised so “ordinary people” could advise anyone sleeping rough they were concerned about of its location.
Trust had about 30 people arrive at its premises in the south inner city yesterday morning, most of whom had slept rough, in squats or in cars. “They were cold, cold, cold and miserable. Most wanted a shower just to warm up.”
The Cold Weather Initiative has been in place since November 5th and will run as long as the cold weather lasts.
The emergency accommodation has about 20 beds for single men, with additional space for couples if they present and for single women if they do.
The freephone number for emergency accommodation in Dublin is 1800 724724
