Ireland: Roughan MacNamara

Focus Ireland is one of Ireland’s leading housing and homeless charities working to combat and prevent homelessness through the provision of quality services, supported housing and advocacy since 1985. Focus Ireland provides a place to call home for 670 households through its housing in Dublin, Waterford, Limerick, Cork and Sligo.           VITA Europe meets Focus Ireland Communications Manager Roughan MacNamara.

How many people are homeless in Ireland?
There are up to 5,000 people homeless in Ireland. On average at least 100 people a night sleep rough in Dublin alone while the majority stay in emergency accommodation such as hostels. Across the country, Dublin has the highest concentration of people who are homeless with figures showing over 2,015 people who are homeless in the capital city alone.  Over 60% of whom are male. Last year Focus Ireland supported over 6,000 people through its services of which 68% are single adults and 21% are families with children.

Regarding the number of homeless, have you ever registered any trend?
So far this year we have seen a rise in demand for our services of 13% (over 700 people), which is made up of people who are homeless and others at serious risk of becoming homeless. The good news is our services are working with these people to prevent many of them from becoming homeless in the first place.  Focus Ireland has supported over 220 households to secure a home so far this year.

How do you operate for reducing it?
First of all, we offer targeted services for supporting people’s needs. Our staff work hard to help people who are homeless to overcome and manage issues that may have caused them to become homeless and we continue this support on an ongoing basis as required to help them to move towards independent living.  We also work towards helping people to secure and sustain a home and prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place.  This can mean linking in with people to address any issues that could lead to them losing their home or working with them to gain the necessary skills to be able to manage their tenancy.

We also work on raising awareness to help people understand the issue of homelessness and build more public and political support towards implementing long-term solutions to the problems.  We have launched our annual campaign, called “Without Your Home Your Life Develops Differently”. The campaign runs for three weeks and consists of three TV and three radio ads which feature a range of personal stories to show the different reasons people become homeless such as family breakdown, mental health or addiction issues.

What do you think are the main challenges that you have had to face in your work?
It’s very import in our work to break down stereotypes around people who are homeless. It is essential in our society that we acknowledge the value of each person. Those who are homeless are no less entitled to respect and to be recognised as individuals. For example, with Focus Ireland’s campaign “Without Your Home Your Life Develops Differently” we put people first. Through this campaign we aim at creating public awareness for a better understanding of the different reasons people become homeless and also show that there are effective solutions to help overcome and prevent homelessness. 

How does Focus Ireland finance its activities?
In 2007, 60% of our resources were funded by the Government and 33% by fundraising.  The campaign is also aimed at building support for Focus Ireland’s work as a charity. The other 7% comes from sources such as rental income, income from our Coffee Shop, or investment income.

To find out more www.focusireland.ie