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Lavish spending on a bike shed shows just how out of touch the political class is

How can spending €335,000 on a bicycle shed for Leinster House, while a huge number of people sleep rough throughout the city and suburbs, many of them for years, be justified?

That money could provide well-designed public showers and toilets in our capital. This is a need we highlighted first 18 years ago.

A weeks ago, we wrote to all city councillors again pointing out this need. Incidentally our recent correspondence merited just five responses from 61 elected councillors.

A bicycle shed that will hold 18 bikes for the chosen few, it appears, is more important.

Politicians and aspiring politicians should not be surprised that people have become cynical, this worrying fact threatens our democracy.

Alice Leahy

Alice Leahy Trust, Dublin 8

 

Lavish spending on a bike shed Irish Independent 04.09.24

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A clear need for public showers and toilets – the health and dignity of all must be a priority

Letter to the Irish Times, 30th July 2024

Sir, – The Alice Leahy Trust made a submission, including an architect’s plan, for public showers to Dublin City Council in 2006 and again in 2014.

We intend doing so again now, 18 years later, in 2024.

The Irish Times noted our plan in 2006, and later in 2018 as part of a feature article entitled “10 ideas for improving Dublin’s infrastructure, economy and daily life” (Life, November 7th, 2018).

Today the need for public showers and toilets is even more glaringly obvious.

Our capital city is teeming with tourists, building work is thriving, but most concerning is the hundreds of people from across the world living in conditions beyond description, and the many people living in overcrowded accommodation.

The provision of well-run washing facilities and public toilets would help ensure some degree of dignity would be afforded to those in need and help those struggling to care for them.

It is clear that washing is a first step to ensuring that serious health issues can be prevented or even detected. On a weekly basis (five mornings), we provide up to 60 showers as part of our holistic health vision in a tiny centre, while not being a public washing facility.

Ironically, years ago, with fewer people living and visiting our city and far less money available, we had public toilets and some washing facilities.

We urge our city councillors and city management to look seriously at the need for well-run municipal showers and public toilets in our capital city that are available in other European cities.

The need is now more obvious and urgent to ensure the health and dignity of all. If it is necessary to provide this service through a public-private partnership, surely it is possible to knock heads together with a can-do attitude for the good of all. – Yours, etc,

ALICE LEAHY,

Director of Services,

Alice Leahy Trust,

Dublin 8.

LINK: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/2024/07/30/a-clear-need-for-public-showers-and-toilets

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Addressing the problem of homelessness

Sir, – The sad deaths of two people at the Grand Canal in Dublin at the weekend focused minds again on the lives of people ending up homeless (“Grand Canal deaths: Victims named, foul play not suspected ahead of postmortem results”, News, July 8th).

There are a huge number of people working in the NGO sector and statutory bodies working hard addressing the problem of homelessness, supported by an incredible amount of funding from various sources. No one agency can claim exclusive expertise.

This is because it is a complex problem, as we highlighted in our submission to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage when it met to consider homelessness on January 29th, 2021. It is clear that there are no easy solutions.

This too is compounded by the fact that thankfully we live in a country where personal freedom is paramount, even if at times there can be tragic outcomes.

People, whatever their social status, do have rights and responsibilities.

This is an example of some of the issues that arise when we reflect on the death of someone labelled homeless, especially when they are known to us, as was the case in this instance.

The work of the Garda Síochána and ambulance service dealing with tragic events, such as the deaths of the two men last weekend, is all too often overlooked or taken for granted. – Yours, etc,

ALICE LEAHY,

Director of Services,

Alice Leahy Trust,

Dublin 8.

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/2024/07/10/addressing-the-problem-of-homelessness/

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Remembering Mary Banotti – A wise and humble woman with an enquiring mind

Sir, – Hearing of the death of Mary Banotti reminded me of a morning walking the streets of Dublin with her a lifetime ago (“‘Trailblazer’ former Fine Gael MEP Mary Banotti has died”, News, May 11th). We met very early in the morning, wearing sensible shoes, knowing what lay ahead. We were both nurses and she wanted to see how we were working with homeless people and how she could help us. She was a wise and humble woman with an enquiring mind. It was a long morning, with no mobile phone distractions. We visited the many hospital casualty departments, the hostels, night-shelters, day centres and met people from all sections of the community en route. We met homeless people going to work in the gardens of better-off people, and some going to court where the judge was on first-name terms with them. We met friendly gardaí, often well known to the people we worked with. Some people were slipping in and out of the “early houses”. We spent time walking through the grounds of St Brendan’s Hospital meeting people lost in their own thoughts, and others spoke simply about institutional life. She listened intently and treated everyone with respect. She was interested to know how I ended up where I was and was most interested in my Tipperary roots where there was a huge emphasis on our shared community responsibility. She wore a pair of my mother’s hand-knitted gloves until they fell apart!

We exchanged correspondence over the years and we met last a few years ago and I was so pleased to thank her once again for her encouragement. I wonder what she would think of today’s Ireland? I am sure she would say “We live in a great little country” and “Yes we can”. – Yours, etc,

ALICE LEAHY,

Director of Services, Alice Leahy Trust

 

Link: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/2024/05/14/remembering-mary-banotti