An award-winning director has made the astonishing claim big business and the Government don’t want to end homelessness.
Film-maker Terry McMahon, who was homeless as a teen for a year and a half until he got a job in a chipper, says too many people are making money out of the crisis.
And he believes an environment has been created that makes people too terrified not to pay their mortgages.
As recent homeless figures soared to more than 10,264, Terry said: “Individuals and companies are making a huge amount of money out of homelessness and they don’t want to cure it.
“If you’re not paying your mortgage and suddenly you see a person on the streets you’re going to pay your mortgage, because you realise the Government doesn’t give a damn whether your family is on the street.
“The Government is in cohorts with the banks and have created an environment where people are too terrified not to pay their mortgage despite the fact they might be paying 90% of their wages over, it’s a disgusting time.”
Campaigner Peter McVerry says real number of homeless people in Ireland is 15,000 and not 10,000
Famed for the IFTA winning Patrick’s Day and Charlie Casanova, the dad-of-four said being homeless was like getting cancer.
He added: “I was homeless as a teenager for a year and half. I never knew what loneliness was and then suddenly it hits like a cancer and rips you asunder.
“The fear is the recognition that nobody gives a “f**k, that’s a horrible thing to discover.
“Your leaders are happy to watch you die as long as they’re getting a piece of the pie and even family who are too busy dealing with their own problems and can’t deal with yours.
“There are no accidents in life it’s an ideological deliberate action, there’s real money to be made in misery.”
The director was one of the campaigners alongside Damian Dempsey and director Jim Sheridan who spearheaded the homeless activist movement to take over Apollo House in 2016.
He said: “During that time frame not a single person died on the streets.”
Commenting on how to combat the crisis Mr McMahon added: “The solution is simple – you build social housing. When we were young your father could have a job, your mother could be a housewife and you could all go to school and have a holiday a year and you could still own your house 25 years later.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said: “Supporting those who are experiencing homelessness and whose lives are being affected by the housing challenges Ireland faces remains the key priority for the Department.
“Over 27,000 households had their housing needs met under Rebuilding Ireland in 2018, with the local authority stock of social housing increased by over 8,000.
“This year the Department will add another 10,000 homes to the stock of social housing – and it is envisaged that more than 5,000 adults will exit from homelessness into sustainable tenancies through the provision of social housing homes and HAP.”
