Festive cheer an uncomfortable juxtaposition

THE Christmas trees and lights have appeared in the windows of homes throughout the town since the weekend as the countdown to Christmas continues.

Juxtaposed with this scene of domestic bliss, warm homes and twinkling fairy lights we have the reality of homelessness in our society, of homelessness in our town.

It is a subject we are all aware of and know that it is a reality of modern life in Ireland, but it is a reality which we do not like to face. We are uncomfortable with the truth that members of our community have no home to go and nowhere to sleep at night.

We are deeply uncomfortable with the thought of children being homeless, but that too is the reality in our county as we approach this Christmas.

There were 28 homeless families in the county at the end of November and while that that figure includes a number of Traveller families who will shortly move into the refurbished halting site at Woodland Park, it highlights how the housing crisis is reaching beyond the major cities.

There were 106 people living in emergency accommodation in the county at the end of November, including 35 children.

As individuals we can despair with the scale of the issue and how useless we are in the face of such problems, but we can do small things to help, such as contributing to the Simon appeal which had a sleep out at the weekend or by donating old coats and blankets.

Small things, such as these donations and contributions help, but we must urge our political leaders to do more, quicker and faster to tackles the issues which lead to a family losing their home.

Sadly there will always be individuals who will be vulnerable to homelessness due to addiction and mental health issues and we need to do everything we can to help them.

But there is a new section of society threatened by homelessness, with families in fear of losing their home for financial reasons, either their own or that of their landlord which could see the bank repossess the home and serve notice to quit on a family who due to the wider problems in the rental market have no where to turn with local authorities having no alternatives but hotel and B&B accommodation., leaving families in desperate plight.

If there was one issue we could solve with just one Christmas wish, then this would be it.