44 homeless people in Carlow as crisis deepens
The number of homeless people in the county has risen by 26% since 2020. Photo for illustration purposes only
THE number of homeless people in Carlow who have had to access emergency accommodation has risen to 44, according to new figures from the Department of Housing. This is an increase of one person compared with the same time period last year.
The government figures show a concerning five-year trend that has seen adults experiencing homelessness in the county rise by 26% since 2020, when 35 adults were recorded in emergency accommodation. And this doesn’t include the number of people sleeping rough, spending the night on a family member’s couch or using their car as their home.
The figures paint a picture of housing pressures in Carlow that mirror a potential homelessness crisis unfolding across the southeast region.
spoke to two homeless women in Carlow town centre yesterday (Monday) who were sleeping rough near Carlow Shopping Centre. Ramona and her mother Maria, originally from Moldova, have been homeless for approximately seven months now and said that this was a regular spot where they sit or sleep, encouraging passers-by to donate food with a handwritten sign in front of their sleeping bag and belongings.
When asked if they had sought emergency accommodation, Ramona said she had but didn’t like the place offered because, she claimed, “there were too much people, drink, drugs” there. The mother and daughter preferred the alternative of sleeping rough, mostly in Carlow town but sometimes even travelling to Bunclody in Wexford.
Ramona went on to explain that they currently have someone helping them fill out documents and that their housing situation is “in progress”.
Meanwhile, the Department of Housing report shows that family homelessness has reached crisis levels, with 73 families now in emergency accommodation across the southeast, an increase of 29 families from 44 in May 2024. This represents an alarming 564% increase from 11 families in 2020.
The family crisis is particularly bad for single-parent households, which make up 59 of the 73 families currently in emergency accommodation. The number of children affected has also soared, with 114 child dependents now in emergency accommodation compared to 76 in May 2024 and 14 in 2020.
“As many head into the school holidays in the coming days, we can’t help but think about all those parents living in emergency accommodation wondering how they are going to support these children for the next few months,” said David Carroll, chief executive of homeless charity Depaul.
Commenting on the latest homeless figures, Mr Carroll said the charity was “incredibly disappointed – and frustrated – that we are once again talking about the impact on children and that more than 15,747 people in Ireland are experiencing the intense trauma and hardship of living in temporary accommodation services”.
Carlow Co Council provides emergency accommodation in multiple locations across the county, including the Charlotte Rooms in Carlow town centre. A spokesperson for the council’s housing department told that it had “two vacancies at the end of that specified week” the report covers, adding that, in terms of who takes up these places, “family composition and so on determines bed vacancies, too”.
Who gets these places? The council said it assesses all cases under section 2 of the . This means someone is considered homeless if they don’t have a place they can reasonably live in, either on their own or with people who normally live with them. It also considers individuals living in a hospital, county home or night shelter to be homeless.
At a recent county council meeting, chief executive Coilín O’Reilly said the council was “in the process” of sourcing more emergency accommodation in addition to what is currently available throughout the county.
Across the southeast region, which includes Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford, 330 adults are currently in emergency accommodation, representing a 129-person increase since 2020.
The statistics reveal an alarming change in who is experiencing homelessness in the southeast: significantly more young people (18-24) and working-age adults aged 25-44. The data shows Irish citizens make up the majority of those experiencing homelessness, with 253 adults in emergency accommodation across the region in May, up from 214 in May 2024.
Adults from EEA (European Economic Area) and UK countries account for 52 people, while 25 are from non-EEA countries.
However, these figures likely understate the full extent of homelessness as they don’t include rough sleeping or informal arrangements such as people staying temporarily with friends or family; the report specifies that “the number of homeless persons accommodated in emergency accommodation funded and overseen by housing authorities during a specific count week”.
Emergency accommodation is primarily provided in two ways: private emergency accommodation (PEA), which houses 135 adults regionally, and supported temporary accommodation (STA), which accommodates 195 adults. Both categories saw increases on the previous year.
Overall, the countrywide May figures found 69 more children (4,844) and 28 more families (2,273) were experiencing homelessness compared with April, and the figures show that homelessness has risen 11% in the last year when compared with May 2024.
Focus Ireland CEO Pat Dennigan said: “I regret to say that the new figures clearly show that the government’s current approach to homelessness is failing. There needs to be far more urgency in the government’s response to help end this terrible human crisis.” The charity also stressed that the delayed government housing plan ‘Housing for All’ must deliver a radical policy shift to provide a range of housing to meet the growing needs right across society.
