Left out in thecold: A review of rural homelessness in ireland Housing Poor quality accommodation is a major problem in many rural areas, where people can often accept living in substandard conditions as a way of life. This is especially true amongst single men in the North West region evidenced by research carried out in this area. Two separate studies carried out in West Sligo19 among single men between 35 and 65 and North Leitrim20 among older people in rural areas found people living in sub standard housing with lack of basic amenities and with a high level of acceptance of substandard conditions. 56% of respondents of the West Sligo study reported they felt that their living conditions were good yet some of the interviewers’ comments relating to those same conditions indicated they were substandard, compared with those regarded as acceptable by society generally21. The CSO, as part of Census 2011, carried out a report on ‘The roofs over our heads’. It showed that 1,845 private households in rural areas around the country had no piped water supply in their homes and 1,858 private households had no sewerage facilities22. Housing supply is also an issue with a lack of one-bedroom properties of adequate quality available in many rural areas. This may mean that even though a person may want to stay in their local area they may have to move elsewhere to access housing. 10 Services A major problem in rural areas is availability and access to services, both homeless services and support services. There are fewer homeless services available in rural areas and where they are available many are at development stages23 or are compromised by geographical distance. Access to services and necessary support services are greatly hindered by geographical distance and lack of transport in rural areas. Where new emergency accommodation has opened, people often need to travel some distance to access it. Where public transport does exist, people may not always be able to make appointment times when reliant on public transport. This can be a particular concern in the more remote rural areas, where people may live some distance from the nearest bus stop and have to walk or rely on others for lifts. Difficulties with access to transport, public or otherwise was highlighted in a study carried out for Simon Communities on older people who are homeless where some of the interviewees, many of whom were in poor health, had to walk for over a mile to the road to the nearest bus stop24. The study on Rural Ireland for Older People found that approximately half of all people who took part in the survey were prevented or limited from attending hospital or other health related appointments because of lack of access to transport25. Furthermore, anecdotal information suggests that people using Simon services in rural areas have had to discontinue accessing support services due to lack of transport in the area26. 19 West Sligo Forum “Land of Rugged Beauty: Unmet needs of today become tomorrow’s problem” 20 R.I.S.E (Rossinver Integrated Social Enterprise) “Rural Ireland for Older People: A snapshot of Life for Older People in the Rossinver and Kiltyclogher areas of County Leitrim (2008) 21 West Sligo Forum “Land of Rugged Beauty: Unmet needs of today become tomorrow’s problem” 22 www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/census/documents/census2011profile4/Profile,4,The,Roof,over,our,Heads,Full,doc,sig,amended.pdf 23 The first emergency service for the counties of Laois and Offaly only opened in 2012. 24 Walsh, K (2013)Homelessness, Ageing and Dying: Exploratory research looking at the needs of older people who are homeless as they age, and are faced with the issues of serious ill health and dying. Simon Communities of Ireland. 25 R.I.S.E (Rossinver Integrated Social Enterprise) “Rural Ireland for Older People: A snapshot of Life for Older People in the Rossinver and Kiltyclogher areas of County Leitrim (2008) 26 Visit to North West Simon Community
Left out in the cold: A review of rural homelessness in Ireland
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