The number of homeless Irish people sleeping rough in central London has dropped to a record low, the Simon Homeless Agency has said.
Philip Burke, social affairs spokesman for Simon in London, said the number of homeless Irish in the six inner city boroughs had fallen from 600 in 1999 to about 100 this year.
He attributed the decrease to the Government's Díon project which gives funds annually to welfare societies for Irish emigrants in Britain, among them charities for the homeless, including Simon. "It's a real turnaround . . . The number of Irish people on central London streets is at a record low. We started doing the head counts 20 years ago," he said.
About six years ago, he said the problem was particularly bad as there were many older Irish people in their 60s who were homeless. He said the Irish Embassy was called in to investigate and additional funds were provided to Simon and other welfare agencies by the Government.
"We do an independent head-count twice a year and in 1999 over 600 Irish were on the streets of central London,," Mr Burke said. "Now there are about 100 and most of them are young."
Many Irish previously on the streets were now among the 10,000 living in the homeless hostels. The hostel in Camden was the biggest in Europe.
Many of the older generation became institutionalised in the hostels and could not cope with living alone in a flat as they would feel lonely and isolated. There were a number of supported housing projects where about 10 people lived together and there were voluntary and staff to help. Some of the Irish were there, Mr Burke said.
"Millions of pounds have gone into supporting the Irish to get them off the streets of London. It has had a very positive impact. The Irish Government has done its bit and the Irish taxpayer has really helped."
The agencies were working closely with the young Irish people as the longer they stayed on the streets, the more difficult it was for them to move back into accommodation, he said.
The Díon grant allocation to the 142 voluntary organisations was increased from €1,288,784.15 in 2000 to €2,604,232.80 in 2001.
Last month, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern announced the Díon grants this year would reach £6 million (€8.7 million), the highest to date and double the amount in 2004.
Mr Burke said just as one situation improved another crisis was spiralling out of control with people from Poland and other eastern European countries becoming homeless. They were not entitled to any public funds.
The crisis would worsen at the end of January when Romania and Bulgaria came into the EU. They expected many would come to London and become homeless too, he said.
In the Republic, the Homeless Agency has reported a significant increase in the number of eastern Europeans availing of its services and the Polish embassy has estimated that up to 600 of its citizens may be homeless.