Number sleeping rough in Dublin rises 56% in a year

The number of people sleeping rough in Dublin has increased by 40 per cent since the spring and by more than 50 per cent since last winter, the latest figures show.

Data published on Wednesday by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) show 142 people were found sleeping rough in the capital on the night of November 22nd, during the official “winter rough sleeper count” .

The count also found 77 people sleeping on roll-out mats in the Merchants Quay night cafe, bringing the total number of adults unable to access an emergency bed to 219.

At the same time as publishing these figures, the DRHE announced details of 230 new emergency beds for adults in Dublin, to open by Friday, December 9th.

These will be in three locations in Dublin 8 and 7 and will bring the current bed capacity for homeless adults and children in Dublin to 5,082.

The figure of 142 rough-sleepers compares with 102 found during the spring count on April 24th and with 91 found in the winter 2015 count, conducted on November 30th, 2015.

Of those found sleeping rough in this most recent count, 110 were men, 20 were women and in 12 case the gender was not known.

Some 63 were Irish, 21 were not Irish and in 58 cases the nationality could not be determined.

Some 50 teams of counters covered the areas across Dublin city and county for the count, in areas where rough sleeping is known to occur. The teams also met the park ranger service in the Phoenix Park and St Stephen's Green to ensure people sleeping there were counted.