Ireland’s homeless crisis continues to worsen as Merchant’s Quay Ireland (MQI) has revealed new annual figures showing a 9% increase people accessing their services last year.
MQI’s 2018 annual review saw a record number of 11,301 service users. Over 2,000 people availed of the charity’s emergency shelter and they provided 102,658 meals to the homeless and hungry.
Crisis
Chief Executive of MQI, Paula Byrne said: “Homelessness and addiction on Irish streets are increasingly being seen as normal. In the last two weeks, several lives have been lost on our streets. It is not enough to call it a tragedy and move on. By every measure, the crisis is worsening. The evidence is clear: we are losing ground on homelessness.
“Ireland also faces high levels of addiction. We currently have the fourth highest rate of drug-related deaths in Europe, and we are deeply concerned that in the coming years this figure could increase significantly.
There were 3,329 visits to the MQI’s nursing team, more than double the previous year’s number and 169 people were provided accessible treatment through MQI’s detox and rehab services.