Mitchell Denies Shelter Destruction Involvement

Homeless once again…

t would seem the anger in Greystones over the destruction last night of a recently converted shipping container on council wasteland has resulted in the wrong man being blamed.

It’s the nature of the internet, of course, for lynch mobs to form, as everyone reaches for the exclamation marks, but this particular bout of McCarthyism has meant that the councillor claimed to have ordered the destruction of this homeless shelter has had to issue a statement this morning, denying all such claims.

Over to Derek Mitchell for his side of the story…

I want to emphatically say that I did NOT report the container or suggest it’s demolition.

I was sympathetic to the man’s plight and decided not to mention it for the winter. Also impressed by Elaine O’Connor’s work on it.

A council official was removing containers from the yard and decided to remove it. I put Elaine in touch with the Cold Weather Initiative beds for the man. Previously he had refused to engage with homeless services.

You can read our initial report on the controversy here. More importantly, you can find out how to help the homeless this Christmas with a new local initiative by Bochelli’s and Ark Housing Bray here.