The Muslim Sisters of Éire’s soup kitchen, which operates on Friday evenings at Dublin’s O’Connell Street, is one of the longest-running and busiest in the capital.
About 15 volunteers set up trestle tables at the portico of the GPO, from which they serve almost 500 hot meals to some of the capital’s poorest residents.
As well as dinners, like spiced chicken and basmati rice, pasta, falafel burgers and soup, there are basic provisions: fruit and vegetables; pastries in individual bags; “fun-size” chocolate bars; crisps and non-perishables including boxes of “cup-a-soup” and scone mixes.
All volunteers are Garda-vetted and trained in child safety and food safety.
But the charity faces an uncertain future. The Government plans to clamp down on on-street soup kitchens like this following a recommendation in October from the taoiseach’s taskforce for Dublin, which said while such services are “well-intentioned”, they put “the privacy, dignity and the safety of people” using them at risk.
On a recent Friday evening, Dublin’s Lord Mayor Emma Blain visited. She called the Muslim Sisters of Éire’s service the “gold standard” and said there was no plan to end services like theirs. “The work the soup runs do is necessary and worthwhile . . . but certain things need to be put in place to protect the people who are using the services and the people providing the services.” - Kitty Holland
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
