The former Lord Mayor of Dublin Christy Burke has made a vow during a live radio broadcast that he will go on hunger strike if the current homeless crisis in Dublin and around the country isn’t sorted quickly.
Mr Burke’s ultimatum comes after recent figures showed there were 153 people sleeping rough on the streets of Dublin on Tuesday night.
Speaking on 98FM’s Adrian Kennedy phone show the former Lord Mayor said he is more than willing to go on hunger strike in order to highlight the seriousness of the current crisis. Mr Burke also told the show’s host that the Government haven’t acted quickly enough to address the growing situation.
Speaking last night Mr Burke said: “The Taoiseach is aware of the figures, senior management of Dublin City Council are aware of the figures, I sent them on.”
“And there is a small group of myself and a couple of colleagues who are seriously considering entering into a hunger strike to highlight this.”
The former Lord Mayor said the hunger strike is being pursued in order “to achieve a sincere political approach to do the right thing.”
He further explained: “Putting a plaster over the fracture is not going to fix it. I am sick and tired of raising the issue, and listening to ‘this will be done and that will be done.”
“We are going to discuss our plans and our way forward.”