‘Nowhere to go’ for people facing homelessness in Carlow
Courtesy of Carlow County Council.
PROVIDING emergency accommodation will be Carlow Co Council’s “biggest challenge this year”, according to the council’s assistant executive for housing, Tadhg Madden.
Mr Madden made the statement in response to a question from People Before Profit-Solidarity cllr Adrienne Wallace at the March meeting of Carlow Municipal District. Cllr Wallace had enquired about the council’s solution to providing emergency accommodation for families facing homelessness after being served with notices to quit.
“My biggest concern is the notices to quit; it is overwhelming. There seems to be no space for emergency accommodation,” cllr Wallace told the meeting. “I have a family of four tomorrow that are going to be homeless, have nowhere to go, and were told there is no space in the emergency accommodation.”
She also expressed her disappointment at the situation facing people who were availing of the cold weather beds over the last few months, describing it as “totally unacceptable”.
“There seem to be about 11 people who got letters to say ‘find alternative accommodation by 31 March’. There is absolutely nowhere to go,” cllr Wallace said. “That is 11 people who, essentially, the council has closed the door on. What is the solution here? That is totally unacceptable.”
In response, Mr Madden said: “There is no space in emergency accommodation. It is going to be our biggest challenge this year, as you can see with the notices to quit coming in.
“In terms of the cold weather beds, that is an annual thing in every local authority, and funding only lasts for the winter months. Unfortunately, that period ends on 31 March for the section 10 funding and we do not get any additional funding for that.”
The council operates a cold weather beds initiative over the winter period, during which people who are homeless or sleeping rough can contact the council and avail themselves of an overnight bed. Funding for this initiative is provided by the Department of Housing.
Cllr Wallace said she needed greater reassurance that the family of four, and the 11 people availing of the cold weather beds, would be accommodated.
“They need to present to Staplestown Road (the housing services hub) and the team can assess them and look at the options available,” said Mr Madden. “We are in an extremely challenging position here. We have no emergency accommodation available, but if they present themselves, we can assess them, as I said, and look at the options available.”
Acting director of services for housing Fiona O’Neill confirmed that those in the cold weather beds had already presented themselves to the council’s homeless team, who are working closely with them to find alternative solutions.
Ms O’Neill also said the council was in the process of “pursuing a property” to provide emergency accommodation.
“Trying to get a suitable property on the market is very difficult, but we are in the process of pursuing it,” she said.
“I can’t say any more than that because it is actually in the very early stages and might not materialise, but you can be assured that there are a number of properties that we have pursued, but unfortunately we have not been able to secure them.”
Fine Gael’s cllr Fergal Browne then asked if the council had any plans for the site at the former Tougher’s restaurant on the Dublin Road, which had been used to house 150 Ukrainians until January 2025, when the site was deemed unsafe due to fire safety concerns.
“I don’t have any idea in relation to the long-term planning for Tougher’s, but any use of Tougher’s going forward will require planning permission,” explained Ms O’Neill.
Cllr Wallace then asked if the council could acquire the mobile homes on the site temporarily and said it was “nonsensical” not to have any emergency accommodation available when there are vacant mobile homes there.
