Hundreds protest in Dublin against homelessness

Hundreds of people protested through Dublin city centre on Saturday afternoon against homelessness. Over 200 people marched from the Garden of Remembrance to O’Connell Bridge, chanting “homes for need, not for greed” and “Leo, Leo, Leo - out, out, out”.

The event was organised by a Facebook group, Protest against Homeless in Ireland, Less Talk More Action, which held a similar march before Christmas.

Among those protesting were a number of homeless people, families and young children carrying banners stating “everybody should have a home” and “get the finger out”.

Daiga Sunepa set up the social media group, which has almost 70,000 members, after reading countless articles about homelessness.

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“I kept seeing stories about homeless people and I just thought nothing is being done,” she said.

“I have neighbours who were thrown out of their homes by landlords because they are selling or just want the house back. They have kids and everything and are just being thrown from hotel to hotel or B&B to B&B.”

The Facebook group, which was set uplast year, plans to organise further protests.

Leah Daly, who was in emergency accommodation with her two children for two years, said "there's no political will to fix anything".

“The crisis is getting worse all the time, it’s not getting any better. They might be taking people out of homelessness but they’re putting them back in. Nothing is actually getting sorted,” she said.

“When you’re in that homeless situation yourself, you really see what it’s like then. It opens your eyes.”

Phyllis Hand (74) said she was disappointed that greater numbers hadn't turned out to protest.

“Anybody that has a heart should be out protesting. I think it’s disgraceful what’s going on in the country, people sleeping out and children eating and sleeping on streets,” she said.

“I don’t need a home, all my families have homes thank God, but somebody has to show the Government what’s going on.”

The latest figures from the Department of Housing state there are 10,448 homeless people in the State. There were 3,752 homeless children and 6,696 homeless adults living in emergency accommodation at the end of November 2019, an increase of 480 when compared to the same month in 2018.