Monaghan Boy, 12, Sleeps Out With His Mother for Focus Ireland and Urges Government to Act on Homelessness
Liam Treanor, 12, and his mother Catherine slept out in Monaghan town for Focus Ireland's Shine a Light campaign to raise awareness of homelessness.
By the Monaghan Brief staff·Edited by Seamus McKenna·Published · 2 min read
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The round tower, Clones. Archive location photograph; not a photo of the events in this story. Andreas F. Borchert · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and colour-graded; cropped in layout.
A 12-year-old boy from Monaghan has called on the Government to do more about homelessness, after he slept out in Monaghan town with his mother to raise awareness and money for Focus Ireland.
Northern Sound reports that Liam Treanor and his mother, Catherine, slept out in the centre of the town with their dog. Liam told the station he took part because he wanted to understand what it would be like to have nowhere to call home, and he used the interview to appeal to the Government to tackle the issue.
"An eye opener"
Catherine Treanor told Northern Sound that she had wanted to raise awareness and funds for Focus Ireland for many years. She called the night "an eye opener" about other people's lives and about "how lucky we are to have a home where it's warm and dry". She described it as walking in the shoes of people in Ireland who have nowhere to call home, and said she could not believe how cold it was.
She said sleeping out in the town centre had changed how she thinks about having a home and about the people who sleep on the streets.
Shine a Light
The family's fundraising page sits under the community strand of Focus Ireland's Shine a Light sleep-out, which also has business, workplace and school strands. The page set a target of €250. Messages from supporters congratulate the family on getting through "such a cold night".
Focus Ireland is a registered charity working with people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Donations can be made through the charity's Shine a Light fundraising pages.
Sources
This article is an original summary based on the following reporting. We encourage readers to visit the original sources for full coverage.
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