Charity worker fined after she protests over filling in Census

A Co Meath charity worker who refused to fill in her census form because she was out helping the homeless has been convicted by the courts.

Ashling Lowe, of Mornington Way in Trim, was given eight months to pay a fine of €150 after she was convicted for failing to provide the information on the Census of population form in April 2016.

She appeared before Navan District Court on June 15th, after proceedings were brought against her by the Director General of the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Ms Lowe’s was one of seven cases before the courts that have been taken by the CSO’s Director General for not filling in the last Census form.

So far, there have been three convictions and one poor box donation, according to the CSO press office.

Ms Lowe, who runs a food bank for the homeless, said she refused to fill in the forms because she felt that the rough sleepers in Dublin were not counted properly.

“I went to Dublin every Sunday night last year with food for the homeless and I told the census enumerator that when she dropped in the form.

“I told her I’d happily bring the form with me and fill it in if I came across an enumerator counting the homeless.

“I was all around Dublin that night and every rough sleeper I talked to said they hadn’t seen anyone in relation to the Census.

“I felt that the enumerators weren’t doing their job properly and as a protest of moral conscience, I decided not to comply with my legal requirement in order to highlight this issue.

“I believe there are a lot more homeless on the streets than were counted in that census. I’m told that if an enumerator for the homeless can’t engage with them, they just record their gender.

“This is wrong. We are all human beings and rough sleepers deserve to be counted and have details taken just the same as everyone else.”

Ms Lowe says she is considering appealing her conviction but not the fine, which she hopes will be given to a homeless charity of the judge’s choice.

In the meantime, she will continue helping the homeless in Dublin and in Meath, where she has opened a food bank to take in donations of non-perishable items for those in need.

The CSO said the Census 2016 figures recorded 6,906 homeless people, 73 per cent of whom are based in the Dublin region.

A total of 123 rough sleepers counted on Census night, 102 of which were in Dublin, according to the CSO.

This count was carried out by the Dublin Regional Housing Executives.