Double pain of losing a baby in lockdown
SF TD says tragedy mirrors death six years ago
A HOMELESS man was found dead yesterday in a tent that can be seen by TDs from their offices in Leinster House.
The man, in his 40s, was one of two homeless people found dead in Dublin yesterday.
Sinn Féin says that the deaths mean that double the number of homeless people have died in Ireland in 2020 compared to last year. One of the men was discovered dead in a tent by a passerby on Leinster Lane just metres from the entrance to the Dáil at around 8.30am yesterday.
TDs told the Irish Daily Mail last night they could see the tent where the ‘man had lived for months’ from their offices in the LH2000 office complex.
It comes almost six years after the death of Jonathan Corrie, 43, who was discovered in a doorway on Molesworth Street, also beside Leinster House. The death caused a national outcry over the treatment of the homeless in Ireland.
TDs yesterday called for an emergency response to the spiralling number of deaths of homeless people this year – over 57 in Dublin by some estimates.
A spokesman f or Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien said the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive has launched a review into the deaths of homeless people. Sinn Fein housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin said he can see the tent where one of the dead men lived from his office.
‘I see it every day,’ said Mr Ó Broin. ‘I see the two people who live in that tent, including the individual who has so tragically passed away, on a daily basis.’
It is understood that TDs ensured homelessness services attended to the two men.
‘It is important to keep in mind that Jonathan Corrie died so tragically in the front of Leinster House,’ said Mr Ó Broin. ‘ It caused a huge controversy, a huge outpouring of public anger and a demand for Government to do more to stop these tragic deaths. And here we are six years on and so far this year it looks like the number of deaths of people in emergency accommodation or sleeping rough is twice what it was last year.’
‘We’re now on over 50 homeless people who have passed away in Dublin, at least 12 in Cork and at least 9 in Galway,’ added Mr Ó Broin. ‘Part of the problem is that there is no official record.’ Just an hour after the first man was found, the body of a second homeless man was discovered across the city on Longford Street. Gardaí say they are awaiting post-mortem results but the deaths are not thought to be suspicious.
Last month, a young mother-of-four was one of two homeless people found dead in Dublin over the bank holiday weekend.
The woman, 31, is thought to have been dead a number of days when her body was found in a tent at Lynch’s Lane in Clondalkin, in the early hours of Saturday, October 24.
Anthony Walsh, founder and chief executive of the Feed Our Homeless charity, said yesterday: ‘There is an urgent need for the Government and the relevant authorities to step in and tackle rough sleeping in Dublin once and for all. Far too many homeless people have lost their lives this year alone.’
‘No official record’ of homeless deaths