Rough Sleepers Cleared From Dublin Streets Ahead Of Pope Visit
Homeless people are being warned not to sleep on the streets as tourists descend on Dublin for the visit of Pope Francis.
The police have warned rough sleepers not to be seen on the streets as Pope Francis makes his way through the capital for the World Meeting of Families, according to a local homeless charity. “They’ve been warned when they wake up in the mornings that they won’t be sleeping there this weekend and it’s been happening all week,” said Glenda Harrington of Friends Helping Friends. “They’re not going to have anywhere to go. This just shows the disrespect being shown towards them. The Pope is coming so they are being shoved aside,” she told Independent.ie.
Friends Helping Friends is a volunteer-led charity that runs a pop-up soup kitchen on Westmoreland St near O’Connell Bridge every Tuesday and Saturday night. However, to facilitate the Pope’s visit to Dublin Castle and the Capuchin Day Centre in Smithfield, the charity was told that they cannot provide the service this weekend.
“The homeless are not going to have a dinner. I rang Pearse Street police station and they said you haven’t a hope of setting up because barriers will still be up. People say it’s only one day but would they not eat for a day and then lie on the ground hungry,” she said. “They’re angry. They’re saying the Pope is Catholic and he’s supposed to care for the people,” she added.
Hundreds of people queue for food on Westmoreland St as it is the only soup kitchen available to the homeless on Saturdays. “I see babies coming down with their mammies from hotels and B&Bs to get fed. These are people whose marriages broke down and landlords kicked them out. I have a lot of kids coming down to me from little babies to teenagers and all in between.”
Ironically, the Pope paid tribute to the ‘dignity’ of the homeless as he visited The Capuchin day centre in Dublin, a religious order that runs a service for those without shelter and in need of food and infant supplies. During the visit, the Pope said: “They help you without taking away your dignity. That’s the face of Jesus Christ.”
Co-director at the centre, Brother Kevin Crowley, said: “The message he gave was that we should show dignity and respect to every person in need, that was his real message. That respect extends to every person who uses the centre. It is very sad to think that little children have to go back to hostels in the evening time when they leave our centre. So his concerns were the dignity and respect of each and every poor person.”
