Sir, – Edinburgh, with a population of less than half a million people ( less than the population of Dublin) had at the latest official count, between April 2013 and March 2014, four hundred and thirty eight people sleeping rough on city streets, before they applied for assistance from the council.
According to new Scottish Government statistics, 363 people slept rough on the streets of its capital in just one night. In Dublin the latest and highest figure stands at 168.
While I don’t wish to excuse the lack of facilities for homeless people sleeping rough on Dublin’s streets, I do think a bit of perspective is needed. Ongoing lectures from holier-than-thou leaders of numerous advocacy groups are counter productive and much of the rhetoric one hears seems self indulgent.
Dublin for all its faults, and indeed the country as a whole, has a much better record in its dealings with the ever present scourge of homelessness and deprivation than most of the globes capitals. Credit where credit is due, please. –
Yours, etc,
NIALL GINTY Killester Dublin 5