Concern over families and vulnerable adults stuck in unsuitable hostel accommodation - Donegal Daily

Letterkenny councillors are seeking a clearer picture of the county’s growing homelessness crisis and whether the current system is meeting people’s needs.Local...

Letterkenny councillors are seeking a clearer picture of the county’s growing homelessness crisis and whether the current system is meeting people’s needs.

Local councillor Gerry McMonagle has warned that the hostel model is not working for everyone, particularly young families and vulnerable people.

The Sinn Féin councillor today called on Donegal County Council’s Homeless Action Team to come before the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District and outline actions being taken under the Homeless Action Plan 2023-2028.

Cllr McMonagle acknowledged the work being done by the team, but said he has serious concerns about the options available to people who find themselves homeless.

“We hear all the supports that are there. The reality is a lot of people are not getting that support," he told the October meeting of the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District. g He said the current temporary accommodation system was particularly difficult for people with children.

“We have young families and it’s not conducive to put them into that situation,” he told the meeting.

Cllr McMonagle said he wanted councillors to be given a much fuller picture of what accommodation is actually available beyond the main hostel options in Letterkenny and Bundoran and other houses in the county.

He also raised the case of two young women who, he said, were asked to leave an accommodation centre through no fault of their own after it emerged that the rooms they were staying in did not have planning permission.

Cllr McMonagle said he has since seen an application seeking retention at the Letterkenny site.

The councillor said the bigger concern was that people were entering the homeless system without seeing a clear route back out of it.

“There is a growing number of people, young families, men and women with other difficulties in their life,” he said.

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“They don’t feel the hostel model is helping them get back on the straight and narrow.”

He said a full report would also help councillors when people come to them desperate for assistance.

The Homeless Action Team has welcomed the opportunity to provide members with an update on how the 2023-2028 plan is addressing homelessness in the area. The meeting is expected to be held next month.

Cllr Jimmy Kavanagh backed the call and said homelessness was an issue councillors were now seeing “more and more”.

He agreed that hostels were “not suitable for everybody” and warned that temporary accommodation was in danger of becoming a long-term solution.

The latest government homelessness figures underline the pressure on the system.

A total of 39 adults in Donegal were recorded accessing emergency accommodation during the week of 24th to 30th August 2026.

Across the North West, 32 families were in emergency accommodation during the same week.

The situation comes against a wider housing shortage in Letterkenny-Milford, where 1,221 approved applicants were on the social housing waiting list as of 3rd September 2026.