Homeless charity boss Fr Peter McVerry has revealed how drug dealers are taking over properties in the capital with victims left feeling “trapped and powerless”.
Gangsters threaten and target people as they control homes owned by Dublin City Council to store and sell their dodgy gear. Fr McVerry says that the death of Tony Dempsey last week at a flat in Dublin managed by his charity was the first such case they had come across relating to their services.
But he said he is aware of other cases in both Ballymun and Tallaght. Fr McVerry told Dublin Live: “They’re usually local authority tenants living on their own who are being threatened.
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"If they don’t allow them to use the flats, they’re trashed up, or they assault the person as they go out to the shop. It’s horrific for the person involved who is also utterly powerless to do anything, they don’t feel like they can complain to the police or to the city council because it can take a long time to get somebody rehoused.
“We’re not talking about homeless people now, we’re talking about the elderly or people living on their own living in local authority accommodation. I know of it happening in one similar situation in Ballymun.
“And there was a report in Tallaght about 18 months ago and they highlighted the fact that this wasn’t an isolated problem. The case in Ballymun went on for ages.
"And the reality is it’s very difficult to get a transfer in Dublin City Council because they don’t have the extra accommodation. So people feel absolutely trapped and powerless.”
A murder investigation is continuing into the death of 28-year-old Dempsey. He was beaten to death at a ground floor flat in Kevin Barry House, Coleraine Street, in Dublin’s north inner city.
His remains lay there for up to a week before gardai made the discovery following complaints about the smell from the property. The flat is managed by the Peter McVerry Trust who had placed a tenant there 18 months ago.
But the tenant lost control with dealers and addicts coming and going. Residents raised concerns about this property for over a year, branding it a “drugs den”.
Fr McVerry, who passed on his condolences to Mr Dempsey’s family, added: “We house hundreds of people including those who have multiple problems but we’ve never had this issue.” Asked about the flat where Mr Dempsey died, Fr McVerry said: “There’s a garda report, we’re doing a report and Dublin City Council are doing a report so I am going to wait for those reports before I make any further comment on that.”
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