Homeless Agency closes 20 beds in Dublin

The Homeless Agency closed 20 ‘cold weather’ beds on Wednesday in the Cedar House homeless shelter in the centre of Dublin. The shelter is run by the Salvation Army on behalf of the City Council using funding from the Agency. The closure is despite the Agency’s ‘Pathway to Home’ strategy to eliminate long-term homelessness and the need to sleep rough by the end of this year. Those seeking shelter are to be accommodated ‘by other services’ the Agency has stated. The Homeless Agency plans to close Cedar House completely as a shelter in September 2010.

The ‘Save Dublin Homeless Services’ condemned the closure of these beds and called for all beds for homeless people in the city to remain open until new and improved facilities are in place.

Gerry Dempsey of the Campaign commented ‘It is crazy to run down services while homelessness is on the increase. All the beds in this shelter are needed every night of the week. Earlier this week I witnessed 30 men and women queuing looking for a bed outside the shelter which was actually full.’

Bernadette Keating who is also with the Campaign added ‘These ‘cold-weather strategy’ beds are, in fact, needed all year round. A strategy to get rid of the need to sleep rough means that the same number of beds are required hail, rain or snow. On top of that the forecast for the coming weekend shows a return to frost and cold wind from Iceland. It is heartless to close these beds now.’

In March it seemed that Cedar House would be reprieved when Dublin City Council passed a motion sponsored by Cllr. Brid Smith, People Before Profit Alliance, condemning the proposed closure. The Lord Mayor, Cllr. Emer Costello, Labour Party, fully supported the motion and made sure that brought before the Council at its March meeting. It was the City Council that in 1997 purchased and modernized the building that accommodates the Cedar House shelter.