Focus Ireland

We now know the #GeneralElection will take place on Friday 29 November... Will you take 5 minutes to send an email to all the candidates in your constituency, to make sure that the next Government prioritise ending homelessness by 2030? With your help, we can make politicians commit to using our solutions to #EndHomelessness during their term of government: 🏘 Build enough homes: Ensure that over 55,000 homes are constructed each year to meet housing need across Irish society, including at least 15,000 new social homes. 🏠 Build the right homes in the right places: Ensure that the homes built meet the needs of real households - fix the problem that no homes are being built for smaller households (who make up most of the people who need homes) and large families (who are trapped in homelessness the longest). ⏰ End Long-Term Homelessness by 2030: Set the goal of making sure no one is homeless for longer than 6 months by the end of the next Government term. ✔ Set clear milestones for what else can be achieved by 2030. 🤝 Improve Standards for those experiencing homelessness: Commit to enhancing living conditions for individuals and families while they remain homeless, including strategies for tackling family homelessness and youth homelessness and legislation that prioritises the best interests of children in local authority responses to homelessness. Start here: https://lnkd.in/eHm79gMt

Sleep Out at the Showgrounds 🔴⚪️ We were delighted to present Focus Ireland with a cheque for over €12,000 this week. The funds raised from our Shine A Light Sleep Out will support families and individuals impacted by homelessness #Bitored | #Since1928 Sligo Rovers Football Club

Last week the University of Galway Poker Society welcomed poker legend Steve O’Dwyer to the University of Galway to celebrate our 1st birthday as a society 🎂 Steve sits at 13th in the all-time live poker earnings list and has won countless major poker titles 🏆 It was an absolute pleasure to welcome Steve and his wife Elisabeth to Galway for what was a once in a lifetime experience for our members 🤝 We were delighted to raise €1,350 for Focus Ireland on the night, with Steve matching every euro we raised 🎗️ A massive thank you to Oisin Rock, Ben Harrington, Seán Connaire, Eoghan Smith, Joseph Andrews, Andrew Vaughan, Sean Quinn & all of our committee members for their support in organising this event 🙏🏼

Delighted to be here at the @SeniorTimes The 50 Plus Show Sponsored by Specsavers in The Greenhills Hotel, Ennis Road, Limerick Tuesday 5 and Wednesday 6 November 10am -4pm. Please drop by Focus Ireland’s Stand and see hello. 👋 Chat about our upcoming fundraising events and Volunteering for us👌💛 #focusireland #fundraising #volunteering

A unique night of Fashion & Bubbles hosted by Roisin Buckley of RosieB's in association with #ejmenswear, supporting Focus Ireland promises to be a night of fun & fashion. Tickets available at RosieB's.

We hope you all had a very spooky #Halloween - this year we took part in 'Focus Pocus' which featured a number of competitive games to raise funds for Focus Ireland. For the competitive amongst us, the winners were Declan (Best Dressed), Mairead (Best Carved Pumpkin), Samuel Oyenuga (Pin the Spider on the Web), Prineeth Abraham Sabu (Guess the number of Eyeballs in the Jar) and Chris Markham (Quiz). A big thank you to Ricky Small for organising the fun and games and to Monica Mc Elhinney for liaising on behalf of Focus Ireland. Also a big thank you to some local #Sligo businesses who very kindly looked after us with sponsored prizes on the day - Blend, Lough Gill Brewing Co., Flipside, Funke Caribbean Restaurant, Otto Pizza and our good neighbours, Tósta. 

Click to hear Mike Allen, Focus Ireland Director of Advocacy, on RTE 🔊 With an election due in a few weeks, Focus Ireland says that the next Government needs to make a radical shift in housing policy to tackle the ever-deepening homelessness crisis. Current Government had failed to use the progress in building social homes into opportunities for families to exit homelessness. Any new Government’s immediate first step must be to reform social housing allocation to give a fair share of opportunities to the most vulnerable. The number of people who are homeless has increased to a record figure of 14,760 for September 2024. This is an increase of 274 individuals homeless, 142 more children and 34 more families compared to August 2024. #EndHomelessness

Proud to have complete the Dublin Marathon 2024 yesterday and raise over €1,800 for Focus Ireland in memory of my friend, John Fitzsimons. Thank you to everybody for your support.

Focus Ireland and Bord Gáis Energy were delighted to unveil the #UnseenButNotForgotten mural by renowned street artist Sarah Bracken Soper, aiming to #ShineALight on the unseen issue of family homelessness. According to recent figures, there were 2,099 families, including 4,419 children, living in emergency accommodation in Ireland. If you would like to help these families, donations are still open to provide vital supports across the country: https://lnkd.in/eMZS3WHx Thank you to the incredible people who made this piece possible, including Sarah (artist), Johnny Savage (photographer) and The Brill Building (PR).

Are you free on Friday, November 8?? Focus Ireland is hosting a charity comedy night in Voodoo Rooms in Cork City, with all proceeds going towards the vital services that we provide in the fight against homelessness. I am looking forward to this event, which will be my first for the charity in Cork 😁 thanks to Denis Finbarr Cronin for the guidance and generosity with the venue 🙌 So, come shake off those post-Halloween and Jazz Weekend blues and have the craic with Laura O’Mahony (CCCahoots, Red Raw Podcast), Cornelius O’Sullivan ( A Bird in the Hand) and Pat Fitzpatrick (Ask Audrey, Reggie from Blackrock Road) 😂 Tickets: https://lnkd.in/g6tW4dfd