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Westmeath County Council Removed 30 Tents For Homeless People In 2022

Friday, 27 January 2023 13:38

By Kamron Clarke @kamron_clarke

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The local authority have defended their decision to pick up the tents provided by Midlands Simon.

Westmeath County Council removed 30 tents and sleeping bags given to homeless people by Midlands Simon last year.

The charity provides tents to people who are forced to sleep rough, but these are subsequently picked up by the local authority due to a rule in their bye-laws.

Midlands Simon say they gave tents and sleeping bags to 180 people in the region in 2022.

CEO Tony O'Riordan says they've been contacted for assistance more frequently in recent years:

Westmeath County Council is defending its decision to remove 30 tents given to homeless people in the county last year.

Midlands Simon provided the tents to people sleeping rough, but they were subsequently removed due to by-laws within the local authority.

The Council says the rule was implemented as they had issues with trying to move tents several years ago.

Fine Gael rep John Dolan says the local authority have a responsibility to keep parks clean:

Listen to the full discussion with Will Faulkner on the Midlands Today Show:

Read more: Midlands Waterpark Granted Permission To Expand

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