About Homelessness

• In Dublin, over 2,000 individuals are homeless.  The Homeless Agency conducted a weeklong survey of people experiencing homelessness in March 2005, published in “Counted In 2005”.  They found that, at a given point in time, there was a homeless population of 2,015 individuals in Dublin, this comprised of 1,361 households including 1552 adults and 463 child dependents. 
• Alcohol addiction, mental illness, poverty and family breakdown are the key causes of homelessness.
• Sleeping out is dangerous. Rough sleepers are extremely vulnerable to physical and sexual assault. British figures put the life expectancy of someone forced to sleep rough at 44 years.
• 40% of women sleeping rough experience physical or sexual abuse.
• Homelessness is a cruel cycle. If you have been homeless as a child, there is a high chance you will be trapped in this cycle as an adult.