With Brexit threat eased it’s time to focus on the crisis on our doorsteps

NEVER underestimate the power of a single image to galvanise attention about an issue. From the, so called, ‘Napalm Girl’ pictured at the height of the Vietnam War, to the tragic image a dead toddler washed up on a beach in the early days of the Syrian refugee crisis, photos have a way of summing up a humanitarian tragedy in a way printed stories rarely can.

People may be well aware that a crisis is unfolding around them, or in some far flung corner of the world, but it is often a simple image that drives the stark reality of the situation home.

It is no coincidence that those images usually involve the suffering of children. Last week Ireland had such a moment.

The homeless crisis has been rumbling on for years with thousands of families living on the streets or in cramped hotel rooms and hostels.

For many parents, finding a room for their families for the night is a daily battle and one that many lose.

There can be few in Ireland unaware of the situation. However, the fact that most of its victims are hidden behind the doors of nondescript hotels and hostels mean many are unaware of the true scale and impact of the crisis.

That will have changed for many with the publication of the photo of a hungry five-year-old boy eating his dinner off a sheet of cardboard on Grafton Street. The image – taken yards from the capital’s plushest boutiques – is a shocking, depressing and scandalous reflection of Ireland in 2019.

‘Sam’ – as the little boy has come to be known – wasn’t even the only child to be helped by the volunteers of the Homeless Street Cafe group on that cold Tuesday night.

Four other young children also ate their dinner off the ground on Dublin’s premier shopping street that evening, their plight every bit as upsetting as little Sam’s.

Around the country, almost 4,000 more children are living in similar conditions among Ireland’s nearly 10,000 homeless.

While the Government has pledged action, there has been little real sign of improvement for those thousands of men, women and children condemned to a life of misery on the margins of society.

Volunteers all over the country are doing their best to help but their efforts are merely a band-aid on a gaping wound.

Brexit has been a distraction to the crisis on the streets. Make no mistake, Britain’s departure from the EU poses huge risks to the Republic but, in dealing with that crisis, the State has taken its eye of the ball and allowed another to get steadily worse.

With the risk of a disastrous ‘No Deal’ Brexit now significantly reduced, it’s time for the Government to tackle the crisis that is, literally, on its doorstep.

In the 1930s and 40s, as Europe descended into tyranny and war, the cash-strapped Irish government still managed to build tens of thousands of social houses. That’s the sort of action and resolve we need right now.

There should be no talk of tax cuts and giveaway budgets until every child like ‘Sam’ has a roof over their head and a hot dinner on the table in front of them.