A NEW NIGHT café for people who are sleeping rough will open in Dublin city centre tonight.
The cafe on Merchants Quay will open from 11pm until 7.30am seven nights a week and a day service will operate until 8:30am where users of the cafe can get breakfast.
The cafe will offer an access point, particularly for people who have not been placed in emergency homeless accommodation.
However, it’s not a general access service for people who arrive at the door.
Director of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, Cathal Morgan, explained to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that it can only be accessed through the housing first service on the local authority:
We want to be careful that people who are already placed are not going to the facility- because their bed has already been made available to them.
The Night Cafe will provide a light meal, tea/coffee, showers and clothing as well as information and advice.
It will also provide brief interventions on addiction and mental health and referrals to support services for accommodation, treatment, health and social services.
The service will initially be available to 30 people and – subject to a review – will have the capacity for up to 50 people in January 2015.
The Night Café is state funded and will be managed and operated by Merchants Quay Ireland, who provide a range of services to people who are experiencing homelessness and drug use.
It comes following the convening of a ‘Homeless Summit’ on December 4 last year where a 20 point action plan was drawn up to respond to homelessness, particularly in the Dublin region.
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