Homelessness law centre provided support to nearly 1,100 last year

The Mercy Law Resource Centre (MLRC), which provides legal advice to people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, provided support in nearly 1,100 cases last year.

The centre’s annual report for 2016, launched this week, reports that the organisation provided support in 1,077 cases and 50 organisations.

Writing in the report, Maeve Regan, managing solicitor for MLRC (pictured), said: “In the vast majority of these cases, MLRC was representing families and individuals who had been refused adequate emergency accommodation by the housing authority.

“This basic shelter is often refused because the housing authority is misapplying the law or failing to recognise the basic human needs of people, including families and children, in the emergency accommodation that is offered to them.”

Last May, MLRC published The Right to Housing in Ireland, a report advocating for a right to housing to be incorporated into Ireland’s Constitution, and made submissions to UN and Oireachtas committees.

Ms Regan said: “MLRC is building on this work in 2017, along with our policy work including calling for legal aid for evictions, and advocating in relation to conditions within and the suitability of emergency accommodation.”