Around half-a-dozen more people have been forced to sleep on the streets over the past fortnight, because they do not meet Galway City Council criteria for homeless service provision.
The city’s homelessness crisis has worsened since the closure of the 14 additional ‘Cold Weather Response’ beds at the beginning of April, when that service had been scheduled to end.
Already, the city’s Chief Executive has admitted the problem is worse in Galway that any other city in the country.
The Galway City Tribune understands that on Sunday, April 2 – the final night of the ‘winter beds’ – there were 14 homeless people accommodated at the centre on Seamus Quirke Road.
The following night, nine of those people showed up at the Fairgreen Hostel – five were given blankets and the others were forced to sleep rough.
A source within the homeless services told this newspaper they are aware of “at least six” new faces sleeping rough as a result of the closure of the emergency beds.
To qualify for emergency homeless accommodation, a person must first be assessed by the City Council.
“A person must show that Galway is a ‘centre of interest’ – that they have a reason to be here – if they are to be eligible for emergency homeless accommodation. But the reality for a lot of people who are homeless is that they don’t have a centre of interest.
“The winter beds have been a specific initiative for the past eight or nine years, and every year this comes up when they close. People are aware the beds will be closing, but a case worker should be appointed a few weeks beforehand to ensure there is a transition to other accommodation.
“There is a guy in Galway right now who was in a bed on the Sunday night, and he now hasn’t a place anywhere. And there are at least five other people wandering around looking for a squat.
“Ultimately, the buck stops with the City Council, as it is their Housing Department which decides if you are eligible for emergency homeless accommodation,” the homeless services source said.
COPE’s Fairgreen Hostel accommodates 26 men, and its women’s hostel at Osterley Lodge in Salthill houses up to 13 single women and women with children.
Galway City Council said it could not comment on individual cases, but issued the following statement: “I wish to confirm that Galway City Council’s Homeless Unit are working proactively with service providers and other statutory agencies in implementing the actions in the Homeless Action Plan both locally and regionally to meet the needs of the those who have become homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
“As part of its implementation, the cold weather response is a winter initiative that is put in place nationally every winter to meet the needs of those people with high or complex needs. Work is ongoing with the various service providers to encourage and support people to progress out of homelessness,” the statement reads.
A spokesperson subsequently said the closure of the winter beds would obviously have consequences, but the Council’s Housing Section and COPE Galway do not have any new site identified.
“Anyone who is in danger of homelessness will be accommodated and dealt with by COPE Galway on our behalf,” he added.
At a meeting of the City Council in January, Chief Executive Brendan McGrath said that pro-rate, homelessness is a bigger problem in Galway than in other cities, but said “anybody who needs a bed will get one”.
He added that nobody on the streets of Galway City needed to be there, because there was an offer of a bed for them, but some people had chosen not to engage with the homeless services or take up an offer of a bed.
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