The issue of homelessness cannot be separated from the issues of inequality and housing policy, President Michael D Higgins has said. President Higgins hosted a St Patrick's Day reception for some 120 volunteers who work with the homeless. He said he and his wife, Sabina, were both honoured by the presence of so many volunteers and that the subject of homelessness "desperately needs a new form of activism".
He said homelessness existed in the context of a “failure of social and economic policy”; homelessness did not arise by accident. The President added that market forces alone could not be trusted to ensure that families had a family home.
“Our response to homelessness must be humanitarian in the first instance, yes, but it must also be part of a progressive and sustained combination of measures and policies which will address the causes of homelessness and the factors that leave people exposed to the risk of homelessness, and which will ultimately support individuals and families to access secure homes.”
The organisations represented at the St Patrick's Day reception were Cairdeas, the Capuchin Day Centre, the Dublin Simon Community, Focus Ireland, Inner City Helping Homeless, MQI and the Peter McVerry Trust. The reception was for those staff and volunteers who work directly with the homeless.
President Higgins acknowledged there had been “concerted action” by the Government and local public bodies recently as a result of the work of the community and voluntary sector in raising awareness of homelessness.
There were some 5,000 homeless citizens in Ireland and, behind that stark statistic, was the "human consequences of homelessness in all its forms: the fear and stress of seeking a place to stay, the terrible burden of not being able to provide stability for your family, the exclusion from basic social services and amenities which follows from a lack of an address".
The President praised those who worked as volunteers in the homeless sector and said they had provided a “light in the darkness of many difficult lives”. He also praised those Irish people who “give of themselves” to help others.
He said St Patrick’s life was of one who gave himself to others, even those who had enslaved him. The reception, the President added, was by way of a thank you to those involved in dealing with homelessness. He said he was coming to the end of his ethics initiative in a fortnight’s time, adding that there was a “vast potential” to make Ireland a better country.
