Rather than addressing the issues that cause homelessness and poverty, plans have been announced to ban the soup kitchens that serve the homeless on Dublin’s streets. This is a step in the wrong direction, and an evaluation of the causes of these issues is required instead, according to Garrett Greene, Workers’ Party representative for Cabra-Glasnevin.

Greene said: “Ultimately, it is the state itself that should ensure that people can afford food and a home, but in light of this negligence, charities have been left to take up this role, the most visible example being soup kitchen runs. Instead of taking proactive and positive action, Dublin City Council are working in the opposite direction. Not only will the state continue to refuse to offer adequate support to the most vulnerable itself, but it will now thwart the efforts of those who attempt to do so.”

“This is a cynical attempt to clean up Dublin’s image by hiding the depressing reality away from public view. They don’t want us to see the problems, because that might make people angry and demand serious change that the powers that be are not willing to implement. “

“Furthermore, the idea that it is undignified to eat in public is clearly a view that the council would not extend to punters using the outside areas of pubs and restaurants. If they really do believe in responding to the issue indoors rather than leaving it up to charities on our streets, why have they not done so themselves already? This latest development is a poorly veiled attack on our most vulnerable, making it even more difficult for them to try and make use of the public sphere to survive.”

“Rather than pushing the very real problems of poverty and homelessness out of sight, the state must begin to evaluate what causes people to rely on soup kitchens in the first instance. The answer to that is the way in which the Irish economy is fundamentally structured, with the capitalist and landlord classes thriving at the expense of the rest of us. Ultimately, only fundamental political change can challenge the results of the current set-up.”