Two homeless men have died in Cork City centre of suspected drugs overdoses in the past week amid growing calls for measures to ease Dublin’s rough-sleeper crisis to be rolled-out to the rest of the country.
The deaths took place in the days surrounding the tragic fatality of 43-year-old Jonathan Corrie just yards from the Dáil, and as campaigners warned recent efforts to tackle homelessness must acknowledge the role of drugs in the issue.
The latest incident occurred when a man died in a Cork City hospital after collapsing in a shop on North Main St on Tuesday. His condition had been critical in the intervening days.
The man’s death has been linked to drug use, as was the death last weekend of another person found in the toilets of a fast food outlet in the city centre on Saturday night.
Source: Noel Baker, Irish Examiner, 06/12/2014