Cork families facing crisis as homelessness charity reveals increase in numbers seeking support

Focus Ireland supported 200 families in Cork who were either homeless or at risk of becoming homeless last year.

The charity said that organisations working in the sector are left “permanently on the edge of crisis”.

It comes as the number of people supported by the homeless charity increased by 12.5% in the last year. 

According to its annual report, 18,000 people engaged with the group nationally over the last 12 months.

“2023 was another successful year for us in both [Cork] city and county, [where we helped] in making a real difference in people’s lives,” Cork manager Aisling O’Connor said.

“We launched 16 new homes in the heart of Cork city on the Grand Parade, and continued our Housing First Partnership with Cork Simon. During 2023, 14 newly supported long-term tenancies were offered and five new Housing First tenancies were created. 

Presently, in the city, there are 34 active tenancies in place and six people linked in with outreach and waiting to move into a tenancy.

“In Cork county, we currently have 18 active tenancies with three customers being linked in with an outreach capacity.”

Projects

Among the projects delivered in 2023 was the conversion of a former public house with two apartments overhead on Lower Glanmire Rd, which was designed to meet the need for one- and two-bedroom homes in Cork city.

A new scheme is also in the pipeline for this year in Ashbrook in Glanmire which will provide 30 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments.

That is to be delivered in the last quarter of 2024.

The report launch comes shortly after the Department of Housing reported that there are 553 adults homeless in Cork and 95 families homeless in the South-West area in July this year.

Focus Ireland CEO Pat Dennigan said: “As we have repeatedly pointed out in our pre-budget submissions, the Government is not reflecting the true costs of homelessness in its budgets.

“For instance, the 2023 budget included a provision of €250m — but the final cost was nearly €316m.

“In the 2024 budget, the €316m was ignored and a provision was made for €242m — which was represented as an increase on the previous levels.

“The impact of that is to obscure the enormous cost of the Government’s failure to reduce homelessness.

“It also has the effect of leaving the entire sector permanently on the edge of crisis, where we do not know our budgets until three quarters of a way through the year.”

Worrying

Frank O’Connor of Anois, a design consultancy concerned with sustainability and social justice, said: “The latest homeless figures in Cork city and county are very worrying.

“The reality is it doesn’t have to be this way. We have enough homes for everyone in Cork, but we don’t have the political or cultural will to change things.

“Policy enforcement around dereliction and land hoarding, a ban on evictions, and new measures such as compulsory rental and sales would transform the situation within months.”

Dr Sharon Lambert of University College Cork’s (UCC) School of Applied Psychology said that investment in housing and health is needed.

“Homelessness is a health issue, there is a vast body of research about the impact of homelessness on both physical and mental health,” she told The Echo.