Simon says everyone should have a home by right

The Galway Simon Community has joined a campaign calling on the right to housing to be included in the Constitution to alleviate the crisis in homelessness.

Galway Simon Community CEO Karen Golden declared that now was the time to start the conversation, with the most recent Department of Housing’s statistics showing a fourfold increase in the number of families in emergency accommodation in the west in the last twelve months.

Galway alone showed a 60% increase in the number of adults in emergency accommodation over the same twelve month period, meaning 59 more families and 109 more adults in emergency accommodation.

Speaking at Simon’s conference themed ‘Making the Case for a Right to Housing’, Ms Golden said that there were almost 10,000 people in emergency accommodation across the country – and many more hidden homeless and in homeless services.

“We are in danger of normalising homelessness – which is absolutely anything but normal. We believe it’s time to deliver greater protections to people experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Ireland,” she said.

“A right to housing is not about the Government ensuring home ownership for everyone, this is an unrealistic expectation. In practical terms what this means is that the Government is obliged to ensure that everyone has access to adequate housing and that they fulfil this right.

“We need to shift away from emergency-led responses to a statutory homelessness preventative model underpinned by government obligations to respect, protect and fulfil citizens’ basic rights to adequate housing.”

In total, 81 countries around the world have constitutionally protected the right to housing.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.