Greg DalyFears have been expressed that Dublin City Council’s refusal to refurbish a flats complex to accommodate homeless families will lead efforts to tackle the crisis to grind to a halt.
Environment Minister Alan Kelly had wanted the council to delay the demolition of O’Devaney Gardens for five years, allowing 300-400 families to be housed there in the meantime.
Lord Mayor Christy Burke opposed this, however, saying that spending €4.72 million on the refurbishment of homes which would be demolished in a few years was a “pure waste of taxpayers’ money”. Forty three councillors, including most Labour councillors, supported Mr Burke’s motion to block the refurbishment plan.
Mike Allen, Focus Ireland’s Director of Advocacy, told The Irish Catholic the decision “leaves things up in the air”. Explaining that Minister Kelly’s 20-point plan to tackle homelessness entailed refurbishing on a temporary basis some of over 600 housing units scheduled for demolition, he said the council’s decision “looks to have closed off that option”, adding “it’s not clear whether anybody else has other valid options”.
Describing the proposal as “not a solution to homelessness, but a solution to an emergency situation”, in which 370 Dublin families are currently homeless, he said, “what was proposed only makes sense if we accept that we have a potentially catastrophic problem over a three- to four-year period, and after that other proposals would begin to tackle the more structural problems.”
“Our concern,” he said, “is that the momentum that was established by the tragic death of John Corrie might have come to a stop. Officials feel they came up with the best plan they could and it was rejected. Councillors rejected the plan in the hope of something better.”
“If everyone stands around wringing their hands and blaming the other side,” he said, “we’ll be back at stalemate and finger pointing. We moved forward from that in December.”