Homelessness on the rise: Increase in people seen by Cork Simon ‘relentless’

The issue of homelessness has never been as severe in Cork as it is right now, the head of the city’s leading housing and homeless charity has said. Pic; Larry Cummins
Cork Simon chief executive Dermot Kavanagh told
that the past year has been the most challenging the charity has ever experienced.At the launch of Cork Simon’s annual impact report for 2023, Mr Kavanagh said the past year had been “very tough”, with the charity ing more people than ever before.
Cork Simon increased capacity at its emergency accommodation by 17% to 75 people a night in 2023, compared to 64 per night in 2022. The charity’s outreach team met 577 men and women sleeping rough in 2023 — a 39% increase compared to 2022, meeting an average of 30 people per night — a 135% increase.
Cork Simon’s soup run served 13,743 hot meals in 2023 — a 102% increase on 2022.