Single adult homelessness continues to rise despite pandemic decreases
Focus Ireland – Focus Blog
by Vicktoria DeArce
3y ago
During 2020 we saw the largest recorded annual fall in homelessness to date, with the number of people in emergency homeless accommodation falling by a massive 2,000 between January and December. But as two recent editions of ‘Focus on Homelessness’ reveal, behind the welcome headline figure there are some disturbing trends. In particular, homelessness among single adult men has risen to new record levels, with most of the increase being in Dublin. After an election dominated by housing issues and a pandemic which confined the country to our homes for prolonged periods, 2020 was a year which s ..read more
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A Qualitative Study of LGTBQI+ Youth Homelessness in Ireland
Focus Ireland – Focus Blog
by Vicktoria DeArce
3y ago
In September Focus Ireland launched a significant research report entitled: A Qualitative Study of LGBTQI+ Youth Homelessness in Ireland. This research is the first of its kind in Ireland and sought to bring hidden experiences of young LGBTQI+ people in homelessness into light to help understand the issues affecting this marginalised group and recommend ways the sector can work together to resolve them. At the research launch event Focus Ireland were delighted to be joined by Chris O’Donnell, Safety net Peer Worker and expert by experience, who gave an eloquent and compelling response to the r ..read more
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Homeless Figures and the Impact of COVID-19
Focus Ireland – Focus Blog
by Vicktoria DeArce
3y ago
The third volume of our ‘Focus on Homelessness’ (October 2020) report presents data covering the first six months of the 2020, providing the first insight into the impact of the Covid-19 ‘lockdown’ period on homelessness. As always, ‘Focus on Homelessness’ presents the data without interpretation or opinion, and this blog delves deeper into the impact of the pandemic using data from the report. From 27 March 2020, a range of Government measures were introduced to prevent people becoming homeless during the pandemic, including a moratorium on all evictions and a rent freeze. Focus Ireland and m ..read more
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Review of 7 years of spending on homelessness shows it’s time to change
Focus Ireland – Focus Blog
by Fay White
3y ago
In the first Special Edition of our Focus on Homelessness series, we are looking at Expenditure on Services for Households Experiencing Homelessness. In this blog post, Director of Advocacy Mike Allen outlines why we need a deeper understanding of this, and how this Edition does this. The first edition of our new of Focus on Homelessness series took established data and presented a picture which was familiar but nevertheless shocking – everyone who has been paying attention already knew that the number of people who were homeless had quadrupled since 2014. But pulling all the data together hel ..read more
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Why we need an inclusive High Road Covid-Era Back to Work Strategy
Focus Ireland – Focus Blog
by Fay White
4y ago
In the space of just a few weeks, Covid-19 has fundamentally reconfigured the relationship between welfare and work in Ireland. In this blog post, Dr Mary Murphy, Senior Lecturer at Maynooth University, examines why we need an inclusive high road back to work strategy as we transition out of the Covid-19 pandemic. The sectors most severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic are more likely to be populated by young, migrant, or women workers (including lone parents), many of whom are low skilled and precarious workers. Up to 40% of those who recently lost employment in the most severely impacted ..read more
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Covid-19 and building a society where we can all have a home to stay put in
Focus Ireland – Focus Blog
by Fay White
4y ago
The Covid-19 pandemic puts people who are homeless at risk disproportionate risk – not only are they more likely to have underlying health issues, they are unable to follow the key recommendations –wash your hands regularly, stay at home and keep a ‘social distance’ from other people. In this blog post, Director of Advocacy Mike Allen outlines the challenges that people who are homeless face in following these recommendations. When you work for a homeless organisation you think a lot about the meaning of “home”. And these days, working from home for a homeless organisation, each one of the new ..read more
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Analysing the December 2019 homeless figures: Part 2
Focus Ireland – Focus Blog
by Fay White
4y ago
Having access to accurate data is key to informing policy and services responses to tackle homelessness. It is equally vital to have the information behind the numbers to be able to clearly understand trends as they develop, and respond accordingly. This blog follows on from our January blog, both attempting to understand what is behind the dramatic fall and rise in the homeless figures over the last month of 2019 and the first of 2020. It is based on detailed analysis of the December and January figures by Focus Ireland Policy Officer, Aisling Reidy. In 2014 the Government started publishing ..read more
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Let’s be #EachforEqual for women who are homeless
Focus Ireland – Focus Blog
by Fay White
4y ago
Last year on International Women’s Day, Focus Ireland wrote about the increased rates of female homelessness in Ireland. In the space of a year, the situation for homeless women in Ireland has only gotten worse. In this blog post, Fay White from the Advocacy Team writes about the role we all have to play in fighting for the rights of women who are homeless in Ireland. The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is #EachforEqual. We are challenged this Sunday 8th of March 2020 to recognise our part in ‘Collective Individualism’, recognising that we all have a part to play in creating a m ..read more
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Why homelessness mattered in #GE2020
Focus Ireland – Focus Blog
by Fay White
4y ago
Housing and homelessness was one of the key issues of the recent election. In this blog post, Communications Officer Conor Culkin outlines some of the reasons why it mattered so much to the Irish electorate. “Homelessness is normal” —- This statement is a red rag to a bull for anyone who cares about the homelessness crisis as it uttered by some ‘commentators’ when attempting to put a positive spin on the crisis in Ireland in recent years. On February 8th, the Irish electorate gave a strong rebuke to this fallacy. There is nothing “normal” about homelessness and people want this crisis ended ..read more
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Understanding the December 2019 homeless figures – Part 1
Focus Ireland – Focus Blog
by Fay White
4y ago
Having access to accurate numbers is key to informing policy and services responses designed to tackle homelessness. It is equally vital to have the information behind the numbers to be able to clearly understand trends as they develop. This information acts to clearly highlight what is working and what needs to improve. To this end, we have developed this blog which seeks to help our understanding of the most recent figures. December 2019 saw an unprecedented drop in the number of people recorded as accessing emergency accommodation during the Christmas week. The overall number of people in e ..read more
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