The body of 43-year-old Jonathan Corrie was found in a Molesworth Street doorway, metres from Leinster House, one year ago this Tuesday, prompting an outpouring of sympathy rarely seen to mark the death of a homeless person.
Other homeless people have died on Dublin streets since then – a man in his 50s in Temple Bar in January; a man in his mid-30s on Dawson Lane in September. None have had the same public impact.
Candlelit vigils took place outside parliament, politicians called for debates and action, charities warned of a worsening situation.
The Government convened a day-long summit of NGOs and other groups to discuss ways to alleviate homelessness in Dublin.
Afterwards, Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly said all people sleeping on Dublin’s streets would be offered a bed by Christmas.
That November, 168 were sleeping rough in the capital.
The emergency measures outlined by Kelly lowered the number over Christmas and New Year but campaigners now warn that the figure has risen again to well above 100.
Rough sleeping is the most visible and complex form of homelessness and is usually tied up with addiction, mental health and abuse issues.
Homeless agencies say solving these cases requires providing someone with intensive support as well as a roof over their head.
But most people who are homeless are not sleeping rough. The majority become homeless for economic reasons.
Focus Ireland says at least two families lose their homes every day in Dublin, mostly because they can’t afford rent increases.
State measures
The Department of the Environment says it has introduced measures, including the provision of 500 modular housing units, two-year rent certainty for tenants in rental accommodation and a commitment to provide 35,000 social housing units over six years.
Additionally, the Dublin region homeless cold weather action plan is now in place, making an additional 175 beds available through the winter.
“Accordingly, no one should sleep rough in Dublin this winter unless it is through their own personal choice,” the department says.
Nonetheless, as 2015 draws to a close, campaigners say the situation has deteriorated since the death of Jonathan Corrie.
This time last year an average of 40 families were losing their homes each month but now the figure is somewhere between 70 and 80, according to Focus Ireland.
Last December more than 300 families (726 children) were homeless in Dublin. By May, it had risen to more than 900 children and 1,488 adults.
The nationwide total in September was 738 homeless families with 1,571 children and 2,448 single people.
