Affordable Accommodation

Posted on 17. Oct, 2019 in Community, Family, Homelessness

John Mark McCafferty CEO of Threshold argues that there is a shortage of affordable accommodation in Ireland and many people are priced out of the market. He was saying that even ‘cost rental’ or ‘affordable apartments’ in Dublin can be as much as 1,200euro a month for a two bed, compared to a Viennese Model […]

Protecting Tenants in Ireland

Posted on 03. Oct, 2019 in Community, Homelessness

Threshold was established by a Capuchin Priest, Fr Donal O’Mahony 41 years ago to help the poorest of the poor have some sort of help and representation when it came to living in the bed sits and slums in Cork and Dublin. Since then, legislation has improved to protect those living in rented accommodation. However, […]

Belvedere Sleep Out

Posted on 20. Dec, 2018 in Christian Values, Community, Homelessness, Young people

The 35th Annual Belvedere College Sleep-Out will take place on 22-24 December 2018 on Dublin’s O’Connell Street and College Green. Last year’s Sleep-Out raised just under 200,000 euro. Four students who will be sleeping out shared their stories with Pat Coyle – Cormac Yalloway and Kevin Owens shared their experience of the Sleep-Out last year […]

A Job Worth Doing

Posted on 10. Dec, 2018 in Drugs, Homelessness, Young people

In this piece from 2005, we look back at some of the work of Fr. Peter McVerry SJ Fr Peter McVerry SJ has been working with Dublin’s young homeless for more than 30 years. During this time he has campaigned tirelessly for the rights of these young people. He speaks about how he began working in […]

A Dickensian Government

Posted on 10. Dec, 2018 in Christian Values, Church of Ireland, Homelessness

The Irish government is showing “a Dickensian attitude” to homelessness, charges Peter McVerry SJ in this interview with Pat Coyle. He says they are blaming homeless people themselves for their situation, just as the Victorians blamed the poor for being poor. “The reality,” he adds, “is that homelessness is primarily caused by a failure of […]

Raise the Roof

Posted on 11. Oct, 2018 in Christian Values, Community, Faith and Justice, Homelessness

Over 10,000 people took to the streets last week to Raise the Roof and get the government to do something about the housing and homelessness crisis. Margaret Burns from The Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice was at the march and said that the government really needed to listen to the people and start to […]

Right to Housing

Posted on 29. Mar, 2018 in Church Teachings, Community, Homelessness

Figures released this week showed that there are now almost 10,000 people homeless across Ireland, including 3,755 children, according to the monthly homelessness report from the department. This represents a 32 per increase in overall homelessness, a 40 per cent increase in family homelessness, and a 47 per cent increase in the number of homeless […]

The Belvedere Sleep Out

Posted on 14. Dec, 2017 in Christian Values, Community, Homelessness

Homelessness is a major issue for us in our society and has been to the fore over the last number of months with record high numbers sleeping rough or without a proper home. Every year the Belvedere College Sleep-Out and Fast raises money for three well-known charities that work with the homeless, Focus Ireland, The […]

Rebuilding Ireland – doomed to fail P2

Posted on 19. Oct, 2017 in Christian Values, Community, Economy, Homelessness

In this second part of looking at rebuilding Ireland, Margaret looks at the Government action plan, Rebuilding Ireland. She says it is doomed to fail unless there is a fundamental change in ideology. She explores how a housing policy that is largely based on being serviced by the private sector will alway have investment and profit as […]

Unsung Hero

Posted on 17. Aug, 2017 in Drugs, Faith and Justice, Homelessness, Young people

This is a piece from 2005 when Peter McVerry SJ won an award for his work in the “People of the Year Awards” Peter McVerry SJ has been working with Dublin’s young homeless for over 40 years now. At the time, the Peter McVerry Trust provided two homeless hostels for the under 18 age group, […]