Homeless man in ennis sleeps in a tent during the cold spell

fenianjohn

Carry wrote: »

What happened to the two lads? Any follow-ups?

last i heard they where put back out on the streets by s.v.p who run laurel lodge. i have not been in the country for awhile but im sure from people i have been talking too back home they are living rough again. which means they are back to square one.

scallywags

be a wild mad man live off the land. preferably a tropical island so you can ferment coconut and get drunk for nothing hehe

firesidechat

fenianjohn wrote: »

last i heard they where put back out on the streets by s.v.p who run laurel lodge. i have not been in the country for awhile but im sure from people i have been talking too back home they are living rough again. which means they are back to square one.

They are still living in Laurel lodge.
One of them is making a sincere effort to confront his addiction to alcohol.
Not so sure about the effort of the other. They have signed up for voluntary work to help them get recognised as been sincere in their efforts to to help themselves. What is needed is full time employment so they can get independent accomodation, It is very hard addressing any addiction without a proper place to call home. We all know work is very scarce on the ground at the moment. Hopefully some doors may open for them and they may receive the help that is needed.

fenianjohn

firesidechat wrote: »

They are still living in Laurel lodge.
One of them is making a sincere effort to confront his addiction to alcohol.
Not so sure about the effort of the other. They have signed up for voluntary work to help them get recognised as been sincere in their efforts to to help themselves. What is needed is full time employment so they can get independent accomodation, It is very hard addressing any addiction without a proper place to call home. We all know work is very scarce on the ground at the moment. Hopefully some doors may open for them and they may receive the help that is needed.

ya a place to call home and permanent address alot of people take for granted. i hope they are doing well the boyh of them. ennis is a good town and the people there are generally good i just hope they dont burn their bridges with the people who are helping them out all the time

firesidechat

well it's nine months later, The winter is upon us and if it's anything like last year we are in for a severe one.
Life for our friends has not improved since this thread was last bumped.

The Clare Champion october 29th 2010 .

HOMESPORTLIVINGREGIONALARTS & CULTURE
Homeless plea for HELP Written by Carol Byrne SEVEN men will be bedding down in the cold and wet in Ennis tonight, with little more than cardboard signs and wet blankets to protect them.
Five of these homeless men have been without a roof over their heads since this time last year, when they survived temperatures as low as -14˚C. Pleas for help have been renewed by an advocate for the homeless before temperatures begin to drop once again.
Josephine O’Brien of HELP, an organisation for the homeless, admits she is a bit of a soft touch when it comes to homeless people but it is not unreasonable to feel sorry for these men when faced with of the conditions they live in.
“Most sleep in a field in Ennis, where you have to climb over a fence, go through bushes and then you see where they live. There are two pieces of large auctioneer signs stacked in a V shape, like a makeshift house; over that they have a couple of blankets that are wet from the rain. On the ground, there are loads of blankets, bags and maggots; there are maggots all around the place. They get sick because of it. It’s terrible, only for we know where they are and we leave a cup of coffee on top of the signs, you wouldn’t know they were there. A dog wouldn’t live there; I’d even say the rats wouldn’t live there, it’s awful,” she said.
Josephine explained these men, six of whom are foreign nationals, have slipped through the cracks one way or another after falling on hard times.
The HELP soup run is to be featured on RTÉ’s iWitness programme next month and Sixmilebridge resident Seamus Callagy of Kairos Communications visited the homeless of Ennis recently.
Speaking to The Clare Champion, he gave an account of what he saw. “I was astonished by some of the conditions they are living in. The stench; even though it was a cold night, the place was full of flies. It gave me a bit of a shock. It is easy to see these things as remote and disconnected from real life but when you’re driving back to your nice warm house and bed knowing that they are hunkering down in a wet woollen blanket is astonishing in this day and age. It is ridiculous. How I would describe it is, it is almost like looking at a shanty hovel like you would see in India or in Haiti at the moment but transplanted into a wet and cold climate such as ours, adding the smell and the flies,” Mr Callagy noted.
In a final appeal before temperatures drop or flooding occurs, Josephine O’Brien is asking for help. “What I would like to say is, please don’t have this dragging on for another year or until somebody dies; if someone can do something for them, I would ask that they do it now. They cannot go any lower. It’s desperate, you wouldn’t see it in Africa. If there is anyone at all who can do anything for them, can they do it now before the cold and the really bad weather comes in because I don’t want to find any of them dead. I would be devastated, we know them for so long. They deserve a chance, they are human beings and it breaks my heart,” Josephine urged.
“They talk to me about the conditions sometimes. They say they wish they had a house. That’s why they drink so much, facing down to that, you would have to be drinking. It’s terrible. Going down there, there is a sense of hopelessness. When it rains, it gets all wet and they are sleeping in that. We help with our soup run and if they have medical problems, we try to bring them somewhere and get someone to look after them.
“They could go missing and only for we know them, they are not in the system. They could be dead and no one would miss them, that is terrible,” she concluded.
Those who wish to offer HELP some assistance can do so by getting in touch with Josephine on 085 1232863 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 085 1232863 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. HELP will also be holding a bucket day on December 6 in Ennis to provide Christmas dinner for the homeless.

Quiet_thought

I'm sorry, but 'you would have to be drinking'!?
I don't see that as an excuse. Being homeless also doesn't excuse their behaviour. I have seen one of the men arguing with a shop assistant because they didn't have enough money to buy beer. On another occasion a friend of mine was threatened by one of them becuase under instruction she refused to serve him alcohol.
Using their situation as an excuse for their alcoholism is simply ridiculous.
I do feel sympathy for their situation, but I don't think it's right to try and justify anti social behaviour.

heathercat

Hi,

Please excuse my question, but I am not Irish and English is not my native language, and I was wondering, after having read this whole thread, why the Catholic Church is not offering help for people like these two men?

In one of the postings from last winter somebody mentioned that even in Germany homeless people died of the cold. This is true. But also it is true that in Germany nobody actually has to sleep rough. There are many organisations that take such people in, like the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the churches, etc. Especially christian/humanitarian organisations like the orders of the "Johanniter" or "Malteser" do very remarkable work in this area. And according to the German law the government has an obligation to care for and house homeless people if their homelessness is involuntary and they are honestly striving to but cannot find a home.

Please don't misunderstand, I am not wanting to be rude or impolite, I just cannot understand how this terrible situation for these two men can continue? I read in earlier posts that they staid at some lodge? I had to look up what the SVP is, I had not heard of it before, I am not a Christian. But why in all those months (it seems from the posts the men were there for quite a while?) did their problem not get solved? Where they not willing to give up drinking? What was/is the reason they could not get settled somewhere?

I know for a fact that if a homeless person knocks on the door of a protestant parish priest in Germany, he would never be turned away or spend that night outside. Worst case, if that person was drunk or unruly, he would spend the night in a dry clean police cell and get a decent meal and a warm blanket.

I thought here in Ireland where the catholic church is so strong, that would be the case as well (NOT the police cell part from above I mean!).

In all honesty, I would love to help, but what is there that I (or any other one person without the means of a big house or lots of money) can do? I feel bringing blankets that would just get soggy as well, or food, would be like treating the symptoms instead of the cause of the problem. I am a single woman (and getting on in years) and I would not feel comfortable having a complete stranger stay in my home

Please, no disrespect meant!

Oh sorry, I forgot to ask one other thing: Where do they get the money from to buy alcohol?

Carry

I'm afraid you are a bit, well, too optimistic here, concerning the situation in Germany.

There is professional help alright, including the religious charities. They offer so-called "warming-up rooms" where homeless people can stay a night and get a bite to eat. But there are nearly not enough of these places. The social services have glossy brochures about help available to the homeless. But you know what? How would someone so down on their heels know where to get these brochures, read and understand them and go through all the steps through the red tape? They are homeless often enough not because they loose their home as such, but because they don't understand how to work the system or know there rights. They simply don't understand how a complex and bureaucratic society works. And mostly they don't care.

A lot of homeless people fall through the system anyway, like illegal immigrants, people who don't understand the language, the bureaucratic channels and where to go to in the first place.

About protestant pastors (they aren't actually priests): No-one would ever invite them in their homes. There might be the odd one and then talk about it. But it is unheard of that they let homeless people live in their own space. Protestant or catholic, they love their creature comfort, too, and not being pestered by smelly alcoholics you can't trust.

And for the nice warm police cells - the police don't take in homeless people, only if they are guilty of a serious offence. There aren't enough cells. And as we all know, the police (or the guards) aren't exactly a charity.

About the homeless in Ireland: The social system works differently here. Long story, but you'll find out eventually.
One thing though: There are more volunteers here, mostly with no qualifications but just a "good heart". That's not enough. Sympathy is a good motivation but doesn't provide professional help.

Your question where the people mentioned above here get the money for alcohol is a good one. Alcoholic drinks are quite expensive in Ireland. Even I, having a job and a home, have to think twice before I buy a nice bottle of wine.

What is even more interesting is why these men - a year on - didn't get their act together. Apparentely there were well-meaning people around. Summer came and went and still they are living in filth and misery, and apparently in an alcoholic haze.

There is a limit to help alcoholics (or drug addicts) if they don't want to help themselves or at least take the hands reaching out for them.

There is no "understanding why they took to the drink" whatsoever. If there are people willing to help them and they are not prepared to take the chance and prefer to get plastered, so be it.

I wouldn't take in anyone of them. You can't trust alcoholics (or druggies). I've been there, that is, taking them in, and they were friends and even one relative, not strangers. They stole from me, they lied to me, they got violent, if they run out of drink (or drugs), one even nearly burned the house down, another went after me with a breadknife and later smashed in the windows and the door after I kicked him out (the guards were involved eventually).

You see, you can't always blame society or the system. Sometimes you have to accept that people simply choose to live like that, because for them it's the easy way out of whatever bothers them. It's even made easier if there are always some do-goodies to help them along to survive their lifestyle.
They make it even worse with their blankets and coffees and whatnot.

These men don't appear to be willing to change their situation. It seems they are quite "happy" to live from one drink to the next and relying on the money they presumably get from do-goodies.

Sorry for the long post.

CptSternn

Carry wrote: »

These men don't appear to be willing to change their situation. It seems they are quite "happy" to live from one drink to the next and relying on the money they presumably get from do-goodies.

Per the original posts, they WERE given help, but fell right back into the habit of drinking and pissed away all the goodwill and money they were given, and are back where they started and again asking for more help.

I hate to see anyone living rough when its not by choice, but then again, how many times do you give a junkie/addict a third, fourth, fifth chance before you force them to help themselves?

The first girl I was engaged to, many years ago, was an addict. Breaking off the marriage was one of the hardest things I ever did, but it was the right thing.

At some point you do have to draw a line in the sand. Enabling an addict is also a very bad thing to do. Don't take my word for it - ask any professional. If they aren't allowed to hit rock bottom, they will never want to change and will continue in the pattern of self abuse which led them to where they are today.

@heathercat

They were given chances by local charities and the Church when they first got here. Per my above post, they squandered that.

This is Ennis. It isn't Dublin. There are only a few thousand people here. If you piss away the good will given too you, people remember. They know. Its a small town. It has limited resources and a limited amount of people willing to take a third, fourth, and fifth chance.

As I said previously, they would be better off moving to a larger city where they have resources for this, or even better returning home. I mean, seriously, who moves to a country where you don't speak the language, with no discernible trade or means to support themselves to begin with?