Numbers of homeless in Ireland continues to rise

Posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 at 12:46 AM

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Homelessness and street begging is on the rise in Dublin city center according to the Dublin Simon Community.

The Irish organization has recorded rises in its figures every quarter over the past two years.

The Simon Community have two shelters located in Dublin’s city center which caters for almost 50 people, which are generally full every night.

It also has 23 beds for detox and rehab, for which there is a waiting list.

Sam McGuinness, the charities chief executive said they recorded a rise in homelessness last year.

"In 2009, 2,450 people accessed all our services, and in the first six months of 2010,we had already worked with over 1,800 people," he told the Sunday Business Post.

"Visibly, there appear to be more people around the streets. Our rough-sleeper team is out dealing with these people every night, and the last count we did found 70 people sleeping homeless in Dublin city center."

"Some entrenched rough sleepers do not want to go into a hostel, for numerous reasons. They might not feel safe or there [may] not [be] enough single rooms.

"The government committed to end rough-sleeping in 2010,and this has not materialized” he added.

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