I wont survive another winter on the street Kathleen

OSullivan RIP
By Donal O'Keeffe - December 13, 2017

I wont survive another winter on the streets, Kathleen OSullivan told me, as she lay in the
doorway in which she would die a month later.

It was a cold Friday night in early November, and I was out on the wet pavements of Cork with
volunteers from the Helping Hands Homeless Action Group. Earlier that evening, the head of
Helping Hands, Fermoy man Luke Heffernan, had explained that they meet every Tuesday night
and on alternate Friday nights outside Cork City Library.

Small groups of volunteers patrol the city by foot, following designated routes, and talk with any
people they meet who are sleeping rough. The volunteers bring dignity bags containing
essentials like toiletries, toothpaste and brushes, underwear, socks and food and hot tea. If they
come upon someone needing a jacket or shoes, or a sleeping bag, each group has a walkie-talkie
with which to call back to base camp. A volunteer will then drive out to them with the items.

Behind the Clayton Hotel, off Lower Oliver Plunkett Street, we met Kathleen. She was sharing a
doorway with a younger man. It was around 10pm and temperatures were dropping. Kathleen
and Cormac (not his real name) were lying on cardboard and covered in sleeping bags. Kathleen
was a small woman, with fair hair. I thought she must be in her late fifties.

Helping Hands volunteers James and Ruth, introduced themselves and told Kathleen and Cormac
that I was reporting on their volunteer work. I promised Kathleen and Cormac that I would only
report on meeting them if they were okay with that. They both said they were happy to chat with
me.

There was a white van parked across the doorway, giving them a tiny bit of shelter and privacy. I
asked if the van would be there for the night. Kathleen said no, it would be driving off soon.

I asked Kathleen how she came to be homeless, and sleeping rough. She told me that she had had
troubles in her life, including bereavement, and she had been homeless for a few years. She said
she was unable to get into the Simon shelter on Andersons Quay, just yards away

I asked Kathleen and Cormac if they were a couple. Kathleen said no, that they were friends and
they shared a doorway for security and safety.

Its not easy for a woman, living on the streets, you know?

James asked them if they needed anything. Kathleen said they both needed underwear, socks and
toiletries. From his knapsack, James produced two dignity bags. Expressing her gratitude,
Kathleen said that she would be able to wash herself the next morning in the toilet of the bus
station. She said she sheltered there during the day, and described the Bus ireann staff as very,
very kind people who knew her plight and made her feel welcome.

Kathleen asked James and Ruth if they could give her a hat. They said they had none, but Ruth,
without thinking, took from her pocket her own hat, a grey bobble-hat, and offered it to
Kathleen, before immediately apologising, and saying the hat was clean. Embarrassed, she again
apologised. Kathleen gave her the kindest, twinkliest smile and told her shed love to take the
bobble-hat, if Ruth was sure, and told Ruth she was a very kind person.

Kathleen then told me she was suffering from pneumonia. I wont survive another winter on the
streets, she said.

Later that evening, James drove back out to Lower Oliver Plunkett Street with portions of hot
chicken curry and some fresh clothes for Kathleen and Cormac. Cormac was groggy, and
Kathleen seemed very motherly toward him, encouraging him to sit up, lest he spill curry on his
sleeping bag.

As we left, around 11.30pm, ten men were gathered outside the Simon Community shelter on
Andersons Quay. Some seemed very intoxicated, and two were lying on the ground. Some
seemed very young, some terribly old. They all said they had been turned away from the shelter.
By now it was freezing cold.

Cork Simon provides emergency shelter for an average of 53 people every night of the year, with
its winter night shelter which opened in November providing an extra 15 spaces per night.

Kathleen OSullivan was found dead in the doorway behind the Clayton Hotel on the morning of
Wednesday, December 6.

Sinn Fein TD for Cork North Central, Jonathan OBrien, was visibly upset when he raised the
matter in the Dil.

The reality is she tried to get into a hostel and she was unable to get into one, said OBrien. I
understand why some people might be turned away from emergency accommodation. They
might be too intoxicated or they might be aggressive when they arrive. However, turning them
away and making them sleep in doorways is not the answer.

The sad fact is that for many Simon is the last door. If you are turned away because the
shelter is full, or because you are intoxicated or aggressive there is nowhere else to go. Cork
has no wet hostel, no night caf. If Simon cant take you in, youre on your own.

There is a lot of anger in Cork about Kathleens death. Many homeless people and volunteers are
critical of Simon and question why a woman who was literally dying was turned away. Others
suggest the focus should be on Corks lack of a wet hostel or a night caf, and on the fact that it
has been well-known in City Hall and in the Department of Housing for a long time that Simon
has been working at over 100% capacity for many months. Winter is an annual event and yet it
always seems to catch Official Ireland by surprise. A cynic might think homelessness has never
been a priority and, when we all forget Kathleen OSullivans name, we can get back to the regular
business of looking the other way or throwing a few quid at our consciences.

Our sympathies are very much with Kathleens family at this terrible time. Everyone who knew
Kathleen and who helped support her has been hit very hard by this tragedy, a spokesperson for
Cork Simon said.

Kathleen was 44 years old. She was predeceased by her son Anthony, and survived by her son
Edmund and by four siblings. Her funeral took place at St Brendans Church in The Glen on
Saturday, December 9, and she was laid to rest in St Michaels Cemetery, Blackrock. Both
ceremonies were attended by very small gatherings.

During Kathleens funeral Mass, two items, precious to her, were placed on her coffin. One was a
photograph of her son Edmund. The other was the grey bobble-hat given to her by a volunteer
not a month earlier.

On the morning of Kathleen OSullivans funeral, the doorway in which Kathleen died and her
aunt before her died too was already occupied by another homeless woman.

Donal O'Keeffe
Donal OKeeffe is a columnist for The Avondhu. Donals column, All Opinions My Own, appears in
The Avondhu Online every Wednesday.