Homeless campaigner Anthony Flynn found dead

Councillor founded Inner City Helping Homeless but was recently suspended by charity

The late Anthony Flynn pictured in 2017. File photograph: Dave Meehan/The Irish Times
The late Anthony Flynn pictured in 2017. File photograph: Dave Meehan/The Irish Times

Prominent homeless campaigner and Dublin city councillor Anthony Flynn has died in tragic circumstances.

Mr Flynn, who was the founder of the charity Inner City Helping Homeless (ICHH), was an outspoken advocate for homeless people, particularly rough sleepers in Dublin city.

He founded the charity in 2013 in response to the growing number of homeless people he encountered at night in the north inner-city on his way home from his job as a bar manager.

It emerged last week that Mr Flynn had been suspended from ICHH and that gardaí were investigating allegations against an employee of the charity.

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Originally from Dorset Street, Mr Flynn was elected to Dublin City Council in 2019 as an Independent. He was a member of the council's Housing Strategic Policy Committee and its Joint Policing Committee.

Outreach programmes

He was appointed chief executive of ICHH in 2019, but had recently stepped aside from the role.

ICHH focuses on outreach programmes for homeless people in Dublin’s inner city and has offices on Amiens Street in Dublin 1. According to its most recently filed accounts, more than 200 volunteers work with the charity.

Gardaí confirmed they were investigating all the circumstances following the discovery of a body of a man in his 30s at a property in Caledon Court, East Wall on Wednesday afternoon.

The body has been removed from the scene to the Mortuary in Whitehall where a postmortem will take place in due course, the results of which will determine the course of the investigation.

Initial investigations are ongoing.

Olivia Kelly

Olivia Kelly

Olivia Kelly is Dublin Editor of The Irish Times

Conor Lally

Conor Lally

Conor Lally is Security and Crime Editor of The Irish Times