New Cork shelter for homeless veterans expected to open in six months  

“When you put on the uniform, it’s like you’re on stage. You’re playing a part. You feel you’re bullet-proof when you come out. Then that uniform is gone. You’re now out in the big, bad world.”

For more than 23 years, Tracy Connolly served in the Irish Army. 

In 1996, she was in Lebanon during the Grapes of Wrath – a 17-day military bombardment in which the Israeli Defence Forces displaced around 300,000 Lebanese civilians.

In many ways she’s seen human savagery at its most forceful. 

But when she refers to the big, bad world, she’s not referring to the places she once served, be it Lebanon’s blood-stained earth, or the lands of Kosovo that were torched by genocide.

Instead, ‘the big bad world’ is back in Ireland with all its perceived homely comforts.

Homeless shelters 

Ms Connolly is speaking outside a shell of a building in St Luke’s in Cork. In approximately six months, the building will operate as a homeless shelter that accommodates up to six former members of the Defence Forces.

The shelter is being developed by the Organisation of National Ex-Service Personnel (ONE), of which Ms Connolly sits on the board of directors.

The charity currently has shelters across Cobh, Athlone, Dublin and Letterkenny, housing around 55 veterans.

Many may wonder how members of the Defence Forces, who by the demands of their job are forced to project a strong, self-sufficient image, fall into homelessness.

“For a lot, the trigger would be issues associated with service, be it at home or overseas, which in turn then may lead to addiction issues, which in turn then leads to marital breakdown, which is the primary cause for homelessness,” says Cormac Kirwan, ONE chief executive officer.

In a career spanning 28 years, Mr Kirwan served in Lebanon, Kosovo, Somalia and the Congo.

ONE’s aim is to take veterans off the streets and return them to a familiar community, where they aim to transition back into independent living in three years. 

In its Cobh centre, which opened in 2021, ten members have graduated to independent living.

In a career forged by a shared sense of duty and close-knit relationships, the disruption of rhythm can sometimes prove too much.

“You come into the organisation, regardless of rank, you automatically come in a group of 200 cadets ... Then you finish that and you go into a unit, which is your second support. Then you do courses,” Mr Kirwan says.

“You’re creating networks and networks and networks. You’re given a uniform. You’re given equipment. You’re given training. The minute you leave the defence forces, all of those supports are taken away from you.”

The lived experience of those suffering PTSD would wash over many normal citizens. Few can relate to a horrifying encounter with an IED (improvised explosive device). It’s an esoteric existence.

“The one thing that we bring to the table is that shared sense of language,” says Mr Kirwan.

“An individual that could be struggling, that’s living in our homes, is in a community with others that potentially would have travelled in the same footsteps.”

The characteristics instilled in members of the Defence Forces – particularly pride and resilience – can often work against the charity.

Many of the service users did not present at the shelters looking for assistance. 

Ms Connolly explains that it’s normally a word-of-mouth exercise, in which veterans hear about a former comrade that has fallen adrift. 

Bringing the member into shelter is often a planned exercise, in which organisers ‘inadvertently’ bump into a former Defence Forces member known to be struggling. Eventually, the possibility of living in the shelter is broached.

“Pride, when they struggle, is a huge thing because everyone has this perception that you know you’re bulletproof. 

“And all of a sudden, for an individual who’s living – as we have had – at the back of a dump, they’re not going to say anything, because the perception is ‘that life is great.’”

ONE has hired a team of counsellors employed to work with the veterans and wrestle through their problems. Mr Kirwan says he’s keen to stress the supports are there for everyone – those who left the Defence Forces of old age, were forcibly discharged, and some who left of their own volition.

A landmark tribunal into cases of abuse in the Defence Forces was heard over the summer, and Mr Kirwan says the victims have been notified of the availability of ONE’s counselling.