Focus Ireland highlight continued homelessness at 25th anniversary launch

Published: Wednesday, September 15, 2010

You might have already seen the coverage of the launch of our 25th Anniversary over the weekend, but just in case you missed it - or want more - here is a link to the RTE coverage. There was coverage in the all the main papers as well, with an editorial in the Examiner and in the Star..
Sunday's launch kicks off a year of occasional events which will highlight the work of Focus Ireland and the continuing problems of homelessness. You can get a rolling calendar of the events we have planned on the website. If you want to look at some of the photos from the event have a look at our Facebook page and keep in touch with us over the year.
The launch comes at a critical moment in the fight against homelessness. The Government strategy committed to ending the 'need to sleep rough' and 'long-term homelessness' by the end of 2010 - now just 14 weeks away! To achieve this goal would have required that 1200 new homes be provided for homeless people in the four Dublin locoal authorities this year. Last week's City Council meeting heard the stark report that so far not a single one of these homes has been provided.
Focus Ireland will be working on this issue over the coming months and keeping you updated as the campaign develops. It is clear that all the 2010 goals cannot be acheived at this late stage, but it would be a disaster for people who are homeless (or at risk of becoming so) if, after a decade of hard work, the strategy decended into a blame game, with the targets and the human beings forgotten. The conclusion must not become 'this proves we can't end homelessness' but rather 'this proves we need to keep working to end homelessness.'
We'll be working on this over the coming months and hope you can work with us.