Building identified in Tipperary for homeless accommodation being examined by council
Plans to open a new night shelter for people experiencing homelessness in a busy Tipperary town are progressing, with a possible location currently being examined by the council.
Tipperary County Council are in the process of setting up a nine to nine accommodation centre in Tipperary town for people who are experiencing homelessness in west Tipperary.
This type of homeless accommodation is a shelter that opens at 9pm at night, giving people a place to stay until 9am the following morning.
At the September meeting of Tipperary County Council, Fine Gael councillor John Crosse asked council officials if there was any progress in setting up the facility in Tipperary town.
According to the Department of Housing’s latest report on homelessness, there were 84 adults in Tipperary accessing emergency accommodation in July, but this figure doesn’t take into account the hidden homeless, such as people couch surfing or staying with family.
At the meeting of the local authority, Cllr Crosse said that homelessness is getting visibly worse across the county.
"The homeless situation is getting visibly worse every month, every week, every year, and unfortunately I now find myself waking up in the morning and finding somebody at my back door having slept outside in a field or on a bench, I take them in and I give them some breakfast and I try to get them fixed up,” Cllr Crosse said.
“I’ve been calling for the nine to nine accommodation for Tipperary town and our area because there’s a lot of challenges around anti-social behaviour, and if anyone does misbehave in a [council] housing estate, rather than throw them out on the street, threaten them with a nine to nine and at least then they’d have a roof over their head,” he added.
In response, a representative from Tipperary County Council said that the establishment of a nine to nine in Tipperary town is the council’s next priority, and that a building had been identified.
"We have examined a building in Tipperary town for the provision of that, but we need to get a structural survey to see if that’s viable,” councillors were told.
"If it’s not viable, we’ll keep pursuing options in Tipperary town,” the council representative added.