VARADKAR ‘SHIFTING BLAME’ ON HOMELESS OUTRAGE
Leo claims FF candidate is politically responsible
THE Taoiseach has been accused of trying to shift the blame for the horrific crushing of a homeless man during a canal clean-up in Dublin. Mr Varadkar surprised commentators when he said that the Fianna Fáil Lord Mayor of Dublin was politically responsible for the serious injuries the man suffered from a digger removing his tent.
But Mayor Paul McAuliffe told RTÉ News: ‘A man was seriously injured and yet An Taoiseach appeared to be more interested in appointing blame to somebody else.’ Council workers were cleaning up the tents along the Grand Canal after a request from Waterways Ireland – a cross-border body under the control of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
However, when launching the Fine Gael General Election campaign in Monaghan yesterday, Mr Varadkar
said: ‘My understanding is the city council and Waterways Ireland did check the tents before removing them but obviously something went wrong here, so I think it’s important the city council, and the Lord Mayor, who is politically responsible for the city council, should make a statement, and Waterways Ireland too…’
When the Taoiseach was challenged by reporters that he was attributing blame to a political rival, he backtracked slightly but reaffirmed his desire for the Lord Mayor to make a statement on the issue.
‘Oh no, I didn’t mention blame at all… I think it’s reasonable that the Lord Mayor, who is accountable for Dublin City Council, should make a statement, I’m sure he’ll be willing to do that,’ Mr Varadkar said.
Mr McAuliffe, a Fianna Fáil candidate in the General Election, also told RTÉ News: ‘There may be an election ongoing at the present but a human being has been seriously injured this morning.
‘That was my first concern when I heard about it, and I wanted to find out the details and so I have asked for a full report.
‘It seems that the Taoiseach’s first thought was to play a political game,’ he said.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin described the Taoiseach’s remarks as ‘extraorvdinary’ and said: ‘That is not how I would do politics. It is terrible and it reflects the blight of homelessness across this country.’
The Irish Daily Mail understands that the injured man is in intensive care in an induced coma with multiple body injuries. He is in his early 30s and had been living in a tent on the canal for several months.
Independent Dublin City Councillor and homeless advocate Anthony Flynn said the Taoiseach was trying to shift the blame to the mayor.
‘The Taoiseach more or less dismissed the incident and then goes to blame the Lord Mayor and the Dublin City Council. [Housing Minister] Eoghan Murphy hasn’t done his job in regards to the homeless crisis. The lack of homeless provision is evident at the moment – some of the hostel facilities are totally inadequate to EU standards,’ he said.
‘He’s [Mr Varadkar] politicising something where a man nearly died, it’s a low blow... Housing and homeless should be dominating the election.’
Mr Flynn lashed out at the authorities for using a machine used to crush industrial waste.
‘Nobody should be using these vehicles to remove people and the tents should have been checked thoroughly. The Garda should have been there and the appropriate agencies involved. There’s major issues around the way this being dealt with,’ he said.
Cllr Flynn said the man did not want to use the accommodation offered to him because of previous ‘safety issues’.
‘The Taoiseach says he can access a hostel but the wraparound support services don’t go with that offer of a bed. This man has been failed by the system,’ he said. Homelessness campaigner Mick Caul wrote on social media last night that Mr Varadkar was ‘looking to apportion blame to Dublin’s mayor after the tent he was sleeping in was removed by an industrial vehicle during a cleanup operation’. Mr Caul helped set up the ‘My Name Is’ campaign to humanise Ireland’s homeless problem.
Homelessness campaigner Fr Peter McVerry said he understood the tent collapsed on the injured man as he slept inside it.
‘They checked the tents that were still standing but not the collapsed one as they didn’t think anyone would be in there. Homelessness is a dangerous state, whether you’re in hostels or on the streets. I think every homeless person I know has been assaulted in some way,’ he said.
A spokesperson for Dublin City Council refused to answer questions about its policies on the removal of tents. However, a council statement read: ‘A process to remove tents that were placed in a precarious and dangerous location was carried out by Waterways Ireland.
‘A staff member from the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive was in attendance.
‘The [Homeless] Executive has been engaging with the individual for some time and accommodation remains available to him.
‘Every action that is taken by state services is taken in the interest of health and safety of those individuals experiencing homelessness.’
A spokesperson for Waterways Ireland said: ‘Waterways Ireland and Dublin City Council/Dublin Regional Homeless Executive work in cooperation to remove tents along the canals in Dublin where they have become a public safety hazard.’
Regarding the latest incident, it added: ‘Our thoughts are very much with the individual who was involved.
‘A Garda investigation has been launched and Waterways Ireland is
‘It reflects the blight of homelessness’
Investigation ‘is ongoing’
co-operating fully. While that investigation is ongoing Waterways Ireland is obliged to not comment further.’
Waterways Ireland was set up under the Good Friday Agreement to manage canals, lakes and rivers on both sides of the border.
Its southern headquarters are on Grand Canal Quay, just a few hundred metres from where Elias Adane was injured.