Roughsleeperfeels ‘invisible’inDrogheda
“IT is a nightmare.... you feel invisible, and often you don’t even know what day of the week it is.”
The words of a 40-year-old local man, who has been sleeping rough in Drogheda for the past four weeks.
Sean (not his real name) has found himself with nowhere to live after being asked to leave the family home in the northside of the town.
He says he knows he brought a lot of this on himself and is trying his best to get back on his feet, but the homeless crisis doesn’t make that an easy thing to do.
“The homeless situation in Drogheda is ridiculous, and I don’t think people living here realise how bad it is, and what it’s like if you find yourself in it,” says the man, who is clean and healthy looking, despite spending over a month on the streets.
“I find different places to sleep at night, like behind the hospital, and on the steps of St Peter’s Church in West Street, but the weather is starting to get colder, and one night last week I got completely soaked and couldn’t get warm again for hours.”
He says St Vincent de Paul can’t do anything for him and he has been in the same clothes for a month, wrapping his coat around him at night in an attempt to stay warm.
By day, Sean says he ‘ kills time’ and gets in out of the rain by hanging around the casinos, betting shops and even churches, where he often falls asleep at the back for a few hours.
“I am religious, and I like being in the churches, but the priests have said to me there is nothing they can do for me, and just send me to the homeless aid or SVP, but they are up to their eyes too.”
An alcoholic father of three children, including a four-month old infant, Sean says Drogheda Homeless Aid do their best with limited resources, but are under too much pressure. He spent a week there.
“I do get dole, but it was my partner’s birthday last week, and I spent it on a present for her, so couldn’t afford the shelter, and was on the streets again.”
Sean says there is a different side to Drogheda that many people don’t see.
“There are too many people on the housing lists, and not enough places to go if you have nowhere to live,” he says.
“There are squats all over the town, with addicts taking drugs and sleeping there, and very young girls on the streets taking drugs, and it is a dangerous place for them.”
Sean was a victim of crime himself last week, but says it doesn’t surprise him.
“My wallet and phone were stolen, which leaves me without a direct way to contact my family,” he says, his voice catching again.
“I used to have a good job, and I’ve been dry for 10 months, so hopefully will get back on my feet, but for anyone else who finds themselves out on the street, Drogheda is not a nice place to be.
“I am a proud man and want to take care of my family, and I know a lot of this is my own fault, but when you are on the streets, you feel very alone, and almost invisible, and I know there are many others in a worse state than me.”