Cork's first dedicated homeless support day centre set to open in 2027

Cork city’s first dedicated day centre for vulnerable adults experiencing homelessness, drug addiction, or mental health challenges is expected to open in the first quarter of 2027.

David Lane, HSE South West general manager and regional lead for social inclusion, told The Echo he was optimistic that a positive announcement was “imminent” regarding a city centre facility which would be open 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

People experiencing homelessness deserve dignity and respect and need State support to get “a bit of stability back into their lives, and look at getting long term accommodation”, he said.

“The HSE and Cork City Council will be working with a Section 39 organisation identified to support this work over the coming years,” he said.

“This is something we have been working at for over two years, and it has been frustrating at times in terms of the slowness of it being implemented, but there were a lot of moving parts for us to manage.” 

Last December the HSE tendered for a premises for the day centre for homeless people, a concept long championed by Colm Burke, Fine Gael TD for Cork North Central.

Mr Burke, who previously served as minister for state with responsibility for drugs policy, said such a facility would give people sleeping in shelters a safe, dignified alternative to spending their days on the streets.

“We currently have homeless people in Cork city, many of whom do have accommodation at night, but there is no place for them to go during the day,” he said.

“This day centre will have a number of different services in there, from the HSE, and I very much welcome that there is now progress being made on it.” 

It is understood that funding has been secured for the centre, and talks are currently at an advanced stage with the owner of a large city centre premises.

On the separate issue of a supervised injection facility for Cork, something which has long been discussed, Mr Lane said the HSE was looking even beyond that now; and examining the need for a medically supervised consumption facility.

“While I have been very focused over the past 10 years on the challenges around heroin misuse in the city, and overdose deaths and preventable deaths, we’re moving into a broader space regarding the nature of drug use; and being able to support people who are using other kinds of drugs, and ensuring that they don’t suffer overdoses,” he said.

“There are between 18 and 30 deaths annually in Cork city from problem drug use, not just heroin use, but polydrug use as well, with people mixing drugs and getting into overdose situations.

“That’s why I would be saying we need to look beyond a medically supervised facility for just heroin and looking instead at a broader issue that we need to tackle head-on.”