The move is having a profound effect on one Dublin family.
Gandon House, the site of The Department of Social Protection on Amiens Street in Dublin has installed metal bars outside its windows. The location is well-known as a place for homeless people to seek shelter at night.
The move comes as a Dublin woman wrote an evocative post on Facebook about her homeless brother; Patrick O’Sullivan regularly slept outside the building, with his sister Gráinne describing it as the only place he felt safe.
This was Gandon House before they put up the metal rails…
Image: Google Maps
…while now you can see workers install the metal rails outside the large windows, a move which will prevent any of the city’s homeless people from sleeping there.
Image: JOE.ie/Tony Cuddihy
Image: JOE.ie/Tony Cuddihy
JOE reached out to both the Department of Social Protection and the Office of Public Works for a comment as to the reason the metal bars were being put in place – no response has yet been forthcoming.
Gráinne O’Sullivan’s evocative post on Facebook about Patrick has gone viral and she told JOE that the reaction has been very supportive.
Her piece begins: “This is my brother Patrick settling down to sleep last night outside Gandon House.
Patrick O’Sullivan (used with the permission of his sister Gráinne)
“He is a rough sleeper, he is not addicted to drugs or alcohol but has mental health issues. He was evicted from the HSE last March after 22 years as a long stay patient with severe and enduring mental illness.
“He has a mild Intellectual Disability and has limited basic life skills. He went from 24/7 nursing care to the streets.
“A DCC social worker assessment carried out since his eviction reported he is unsuitable for supported community accommodation, let alone independent living.
“As a family we are heartbroken and sick with worry, he’s at massive risk and our fear is he will end up dead soon, we worry constantly about him and his whereabouts.”
To read Gráinne’s piece in full, click here.
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