Gardai are investigating all circumstances after the body of a homeless teenager was found in a car on Thursday afternoon.
Gardai and the Ambulance Service raced to the scene of the devastating discovery made in a lane just off Parnell Street beside local pub O'Reilly's just after 2pm today.
The body was discovered in a wine-coloured Nissan Almera, and it's believed he was sheltering from last night's torrential rain in the back of the car.
Gardai confirmed to Dublin Live that "the deceased is a male in his late teens".
"A post mortem is due to take place at a later date and the results will determine the course of the investigation," they said.
Inner City Helping Homeless CEO and Dublin City Councillor Anthony Flynn said the young man was known to homeless services in the area.
He claimed the homeless crisis in Ireland has only worsened due to the effect of the coronavirus pandemic, and he has called on new Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien to overhaul the homeless service system in Ireland.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the young man’s family," Cllr Flynn said.
"He has not been formally identified but is known to services and has been sleeping rough in the area.
"The crisis has not gone away through Covid-19 - in fact it has worsened. On average 125 people are sleeping rough across the city on any given night, with many forced to take sleeping bags because of lack of bed availability.
"We need a complete overhaul on the homeless service system and I not only call on the new Minister to initiate this but invite him to attend nightly outreach supports with our teams.
"No person should be offered a sleeping bag instead of a bed.
"It’s time we eradicated rough sleeping across this country."
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