Funding sought for day services for homeless users of Tipperary night-time accommodation

Tipperary County Council has submitted an application for funding to extend day health and social services to homeless people suffering from addiction and mental health problems who are staying in night-time emergency accommodation in Clonmel.

The Council has three Own Front Door homes in the town providing overnight accommodation for homeless people who would otherwise sleep on the streets.

It’s known as the 9 to 9 service as it provides a bed, showering facilities and food to clients between 9pm and 9am.

Council Homeless Services Coordinator Helen Butler informed Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District’s monthly meeting that the Council has submitted an application to extend day-time health and social services to the homeless people staying in this emergency accommodation.

She said a substance misuse worker and health worker already visit the people with addiction and mental health problems staying in the emergency accommodation.

The operation of the Council’s 9 to 9 service was raised at the meeting in Carrick-on-Suir Town Hall by Labour Cllr Michael ‘Chicken’ Brennan who raised concerns about the operation of the accommodation.

He spoke of how he has dealt with a number of people requiring emergency accommodation in the past few weeks. He reported when he arrived at the 9 to 9 accommodation there appeared to be a “party atmosphere” with cans on the pavement and people dancing around.

He claimed that a security man was chased out of one of the properties when a fight broke out.

“I am just worried that something serious would happen in the premises,” he told Council officials.

He added: “It does do a job for people coming in off the streets but I just have concerns about how it operates.”

Sinn Féin Cllr David Dunne, a member of the Council sub-committee overseeing the 9 to 9 service, acknowledged there are issues and he had also received reports which he brought to the team managing the accommodation.

He stressed this accommodation caters for people with very complex problems and it was a difficult environment to manage.

The Carrick-on-Suir councillor said the staff were doing a great job in running the service and it was essential that it was kept going.

He reminded councillors that between 20 and 50 homeless people had squatted in the old Clonmel Arms Hotel before it was demolished. The 9 to 9 service ensured they didn’t sleep rough outdoors at night.

During the storms and snow this winter the Council’s homeless staff worked day and night to make sure people weren’t sleeping on the streets, he said.

What was needed was more 9 to 9 accommodation for people who don’t suffer from an addiction, he added.

Ms Butler echoed Cllr Dunne’s comments that the 9 to 9 accommodation was a difficult service to run due to the complex needs of its users.

But she stressed it was a really good way of getting people off the streets and a first point of contact homeless people have with the services they need.

“It’s really important that we have it,” she said outlining that about 15 people use the service who would otherwise be sleeping on the street.

She said the Council had a staff member and security officer working at the accommodation and there was CCTV in operation that is reviewed if an incident occurs.

She stressed the number of incidents at the emergency accommodation was “extremely low” but acknowledged when some people arrive at the accommodation it can be “shock to the system” and they try to move them to other accommodation as quickly as possible.