Sinn Fein Councilor for the Gorey and North Wexford areas has this evening put forward a motion to his fellow councilors calling for the re-establishment of emergency accommodation in the north of the county.

Cllr. Ó Súilleabháin said,

‘The death of a homeless gentleman in Wexford town this week is a stark and tragic reminder to every one of us that the issue of affordable housing and availability of emergency accommodation remains one of the most fundamental and basic issues in the state. I am calling on my fellow Councillors to back this motion and formally recognise the issue of homelessness in our county, an issue that has been sometimes denied or trivialised by some public representatives in the past.’

‘The motion is a simple one, I am asking my colleagues in the council to re-establish, and provide necessary funding for, emergency accommodation in North Wexford for those who may need it,  similar to what was in place up until approximately 2 years ago. It is my hope that this will be replicated in other LEAs around the county. The issue of homelessness and vulnerability is even more serious in the incoming cold winter months, and we must fight the injustice that any person be condemned to die alone in a tent, or a doorway. We must not allow ourselves to be desensitised or normalised by this housing crisis. Each and every single one of this years’ 52 homeless deaths is a tragedy that could possibly have been avoided, if the necessary provisions were in place.’