'Homeless emergency is not bringing urgency’ - Kilkenny Live

The CEO of the Good Shepherd Centre in Kilkenny, Noel Sherry, has claimed child homelessness is a 'trauma' for young people and believes unless action is taken to control rents and evictions, 'the cash rich will always prevail'.

An unprecedented number of children were recorded as homeless in November 2023, with more than 4,000 children in emergency accommodation for the first time in the history of the state.

In total, a record 4,105 children were in emergency accommodation according to figures from the Department of Housing.

Mr Sherry has witnessed the impact in the locality first hand over the past number of years, accommodating local families in the centre.

However, according to Sherry, the psychological anguish can be equally as damaging as the practical issue.

"At the end of the day, sometimes what people forget is homelessness is a trauma, we have children experiencing this trauma," he said. "In some cases around the country, children are in hotels or in emergency huts for up to three years, they're doing their Leaving Cert work in hotel suites. When do we say enough? When do we say what the minimum standard is?"

The Belfast native moved to Kilkenny in 2000 and holds degrees in Philosophy, H Dip Business and MSc Child Protection and Welfare. Since his arrival, he has witnessed many families lose their homes, not least in the past 12 months where a 17% increase in child homelessness was recorded in November compared to the same period in 2022.

"Emergency is not bringing urgency. When you think about it, what should children be talking about at the ages of nine and 10? They shouldn’t be feeling stigmatised, they shouldn't be feeling depressed," he said.

"I've heard children as young as eight or nine say they were 'depressed' and even in some cases talking about suicidal ideation," he added.

The Good Shepherd CEO is adamant the crisis is not exclusive to people with mental-health or drug related problems, as young couples on modest wages and those with disabilities and older people feel the pinch.

"Until people get their heads around that, we're going to see these numbers continue to grow over the next two years," Mr Sherry remarked.