Fr Peter McVerry has said that an increase in home repossessions could lead to “potentially thousands” of families becoming homeless in 2015.
“That process that they go through, for many of these families is coming to an end, and there is no resolution and the banks are going to repossess their homes,” said Fr McVerry, who is a prominent campaigner for the homeless.
Speaking to Róisín Ingle on this week's Róisín Meets podcast, Fr McVerry said that the number of homeless families had increased from 50 to "about 400" in the last two years. "I have homeless families ringing me up saying, I'm here on the street, I'm sitting here on a park bench with my three children and they've told me there's no accommodation available for me," he said.
“If we suddenly had 2,000, and I predict we will have at least 2,000 during this year, that is really going to embarrass (the government) in the run-up to a general election,” he said.
Fr McVerry also said that the provision of 270 emergency beds for rough sleepers following the death of homeless man Jonathan Corrie was "a very positive step", but that many homeless people will not use the beds because they are in dormitories.
“Young people who are not streetwise feel very intimidated, and feel very bullied if they go in there. People who are drug free won’t go in there, because certainly some of the other occupants will be actively using drugs in the middle of the night. People who were abused as children won’t go in there, because they tell me they break out in sweats at the thought of sleeping in a room full of strangers”.
Fr McVerry also said that he had “given up” trying to win more support from government departments. “If government ministers or politicians want to meet me, yeah I’ll go and meet them. But I’m not expecting anything out of it, and I’m usually not disappointed,” he said. “The only way to get action is to embarrass them, just as Jonathan Corrie did.”
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