TWO homeless men have died within hours of each other in Ireland overnight.
Gardaí are investigating after a man was found dead in the Irish capital’s popular tourist spot of Temple Bar.
The death of a second man, a 23-year-old in Co. Louth, has sparked calls for better outreach services to help those sleeping rough.
Emergency services were called to Adair Lane in Temple Bar at around 2am last night.
The dead man, who is yet to be identified, was believed to have been homeless and sleeping rough in Dublin.
His death is not being treated as suspicious.
The Dublin Simon Community, who work with 3,500 people in Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and Meath, offered their condolences to the man’s family and friends.
They said those who are sleeping on Irish street are very vulnerable, particularly as colder weather approaches.
The 23-year-old man was found unconscious in Drogheda at 9.45pm last night.
He was taken to Our Lady of Lourdes hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Mayor of Drogheda Pio Smith: “My heart goes out to that young man and his family. I’m not too surprised by it but, in fact, I hate to say I was even fearing that this would happen.
“In Drogheda we don’t have an outreach worker. The HSE need to stand up now and have a look at this," he added.
“If we had an outreach worker we’d have someone able to liaise with these people on a daily basis, touch base with them and connect them up to services.”
The most recent figures from Focus Ireland show 8,270 people are homeless in Ireland - including 3,048 children.
The total number of people homeless rose by 25 per cent from August 2016 to August 2017, the organisation states.
