Homeless services still trying to identify man found dead on Dublin street

Homeless services and charities are still trying to establish the identity of a man who died while sleeping rough in Dublin city centre.

The man's body was discovered yesterday morning at the old church on St Andrew's Street, which was formerly a tourist office.

People working in the area say rough sleepers do sleep out on St Andrew's Street or at the old tourist office building, which is currently vacant.

In a statement to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) said it had been in contact with gardaí and was awaiting confirmation of the man's identity before it can confirm if they were known to homeless services.

The Department of Housing yesterday said the man "appeared to be sleeping rough".

"This is a tragedy and we extend our sympathies to the family and friends of the individual concerned", a department spokesperson added.

"It is important to establish the circumstances involved, and that our response is based on the best knowledge and evidence available."

Figures from last year show that about 120 people are sleeping rough on the streets of the capital through the winter months.

Dublin has the highest number of homeless adults at nearly 6,800 and almost two-thirds of them are single.

Medical Director of the Granby Clinic, which provides GP services to homeless people in Dublin, Dr Austin O'Carroll, has said people who sleep rough are more vulnerable to illness and die at a younger age than people who are not homeless.

He told RTÉ's Morning Ireland: "They're very vulnerable for many reasons, not just the rough sleeping. First of all, people who are homeless, they come from poverty and we know people who come from poverty die at a younger age.

"They also tend to have a higher rate of significant trauma in their childhood and we know that people with significant trauma die 20 years younger.

"And then when they become homeless itself, homelessness has a huge effect on death rates, both from the effect of the homeless itself but also the reasons that addiction is much higher, both alcohol and other drugs, and they decrease your life expectancy significantly.

"And then obviously sleeping on the streets and the cold leaves you vulnerable, particularly to infections. If you have an infection, it leaves you vulnerable to your immunity going down, and you're more likely as well as hypothermia.

"So, all those factors mean that people living on the streets are very vulnerable, and particularly at this time of year, we're always concerned."