Increase in older people asking for Dublin charity’s help after ‘tipping point’ of soaring rents left them homeless

While homelessness and addiction often go hand-in-hand, Mr Dooley and the rest of the team at MQI in Dublin have noticed older people suddenly arriving at their door. They are the kind of people who never previously sought help there.

“When I first started here, by and large, the majority of people using the homeless service were also people who were using the drug treatment service,” he said.

“There would have been some older people using the homeless service in the mid to late ’90s, but nothing in comparison to now.”

His observations aren’t just a hunch; there is cold data to back it up.

Up to the end of October this year, MQI had supported 6,900 clients through its open-access day service in Riverbank on Merchants Quay – a 29pc increase on the same period last year.

There was an 11pc increase in people over the age of 60, some of whom are experiencing homelessness for the first time.

“With the escalating rents, people are at the mercy of private landlords,” said Mr Dooley, who is from Cabra in Dublin.

“People have presented to us saying their rent increase has been so much that it’s been the tipping point for them. They’ve ended up on the streets. So we have men in their 50s, 60s and sometimes 70s, who are now sleeping rough who come into us.”

A lot of our clients feel they don’t have the right to a normal existence

Mr Dooley says the period before Christmas has always been a particularly hard time for people who seek help at MQI.

He added: “A lot of our clients feel they don’t have the right to a normal existence. They’re treated differently for the most part when they are on the street, and they feel nearly obligated to talk about the darker side of things that are going on.

“We have clients coming in and they wear it like a cloak. They wear this mistrust, fear and wariness like a cloak. And it would be foolish to think that just by walking through the doors of Merchants Quay Ireland that they let go of that.

“But they do over time, because they realise they’re in a place where they are treated with respect.

“What we’re saying to them is ‘come in and if you want to talk about your drug use or your homelessness, we’re happy to do that. If you want to come in and talk to me about your family and how things are going well or not so well, then that’s okay as well’.

“I ask anybody how long it would take, if they lived on the streets, before they realise that to protect themselves they have to close up, have to become very guarded, very insular. And I ask how long would it take for that to have an impact on their mental health.

“A lot of the client group in the lead-up to Christmas become very withdrawn, because Christmas is just opening up the blinds to what they are missing out on.

“What they see around them is people out shopping, people out celebrating, people out with their kids.

“For a lot of our clients, it’s a stark reminder of what they have lost out on. Hopefully temporarily, but not always. Fractured relationships with their parents, with siblings, with children, are particularly difficult.

“When people come in soaking wet, freezing cold, distressed, sad, worried, you name it, to have fresh clothes available, to have a bit of humanity available, to have hot food, hot tea and coffee available – it has a brilliant impact.

They are not slow about expressing their gratitude to the staff

“The impact on an individual, even for that short amount of time, of walking into a warm atmosphere is quite startling, but it’s not rocket science.

“I’m not just talking about the heat in the building. I’m talking about the warmth of the welcome.”

Mr Dooley adds: “It’s a credit to the clients that they express how they are feeling when either the outreach team or the community engagement team meet them, or in Riverbank.

“They are not slow about expressing their gratitude to the staff. I have lost count of the number of people who have said to me, ‘I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for this place’.”

MQI has launched an urgent winter fundraising appeal, asking people to consider donating to its ‘Cup of Kindness’ via www.MQI.ie/kindness.

If you have been affected by issues raised in this article, call Focus Ireland on 01 881 5900, email help@focusireland.ie or see focusireland.ie; or call Peter McVerry Trust on 01 823 0776, email info@pmvtrust.ie or see pmvtrust.ie