OVER 400 adults are currently homeless in Limerick, the government’s latest Homeless Report for the month of May has shown, with the increase being strongly felt by local homeless charities.
There were 410 homeless adults accessing emergency accommodation in Limerick in May, the report showed, making up the majority of the Mid West’s figure of 484 people experiencing homelessness.
There were a further 74 people in Clare accessing homeless emergency accommodation throughout May.
Across the Mid West, the report found 178 children accessing emergency accommodation in May.
Limerick homelessness charity Novas said that “the number of people experiencing homelessness has never been higher”.
“The increase in people experiencing homelessness nationally and throughout the Mid West is increasingly evident in our services, with more people seeking support,” a spokeswoman for the charity told the Limerick Post.
“NOVAS provides out-of-hours support in Limerick City and there are more people than ever presenting to McGarry House throughout the night, looking for sleeping bags, advice, and a hot drink. These are primarily people who are rough sleeping and in squats with nowhere else to go.”
The spokeswoman added that “for the last year, we have observed high numbers attending NOVAS’ street outreach, which provides support, advice, and a hot meal on a nightly basis in Limerick City”.
“Many of the people who present here are also rough sleeping or hidden homeless, leaning into the support of family and friends from night to night, with no address of their own. Additionally, all our temporary homeless accommodation is full on a nightly basis.”
Of the total number of 484 people accessing council-managed emergency accommodation in the Mid West, 323 were single adults, with 276 men and 208 women.
While the numbers are stark, Novas believes that the homelessness problem can be solved.
“An acceleration of social housing, particularly one-bed units of accommodation, combined with increased investment in prevention services can help us to end long-term homelessness,” the charity said.
In the Mid West, 377 of the people accessing emergency accommodation were Irish, 51 were from the UK or the European Economic Area (EEA), while 56 were from non-EEA backgrounds.
Nationally, there were 9,843 people accessing emergency accommodation in May, with the majority of these in Dublin (7,058).
