WATCH: Limerick hurler Diarmaid Byrnes finds 'there's no place like home' at Christmas

After two weeks in Ennis and Nenagh, as part of his special series as an ambassador for his employer DHL for Mid West Simon, Limerick hurling star Diarmaid Byrnes was back on home turf – and the story was, indeed, about home; those who can count themselves lucky to have one and those who, sadly, can’t this Christmas.

Visits to Ennis and Nenagh done, it’s now time for home.

Christmas is a time for home.

I don’t get too much time for reading but was recently recommended a book by a Limerick writer, Jim O’Brien. ‘Matters of Great Indifference’ it’s called, but there’s anything but indifference in the brilliant piece he writes about Christmas.

‘Home for Christmas’ is about his recollections of life down the decades in West Limerick at that special time of year. It’s about coming home for Christmas, the warmth of Christmas.

As he puts it himself, “you breathe deep and smile in the depths”. But sadly, tragically, there’s a different kind of ‘depth’ experienced by so many people I’ve met on this journey through my role as a DHL ambassador with Mid West Simon.

This depth is despair and home, or lack of one, is quite simply what’s at the centre of it. My stop on the journey this week is Mid West Simon’s ‘home’ on Speakers Corner.

Ironically, just a short dash from where we had our own incredible Limerick homecoming last July.

The incredible buzz of that night; being back home with your own a special feeling. But just 200m away at Speakers Corner, it’s about trying to look after those who have no home.

They do incredible work but they’ve never been more stretched. And it’s manic right now, as they push the boundaries trying to give relief to the homeless.

Jonathan Shinnors is the Regional Manager for Emergency Accommodation at Mid West Simon. He’s at the very cold face of this. And he paints an honest but harsh picture of how bad it is.

It's been the busiest 12 months they’ve had, including a scary rise in the number of people in full time employment knocking on their door. Likewise, people in third level education.

In any given week, they accommodate 160 plus homeless people across their six emergency accommodation sites; two of them family hubs that have the capacity also to cater for children.

They look also look after people in other centres who have become homeless as a result of substance misuse and mental health issues. And then, there are more older people than ever presenting, which brings additional challenges due to health needs.

But for Christmas it’s even more acute.

People who have been sleeping rough or squatting or sleeping in cars up to now are presenting because of the drop in temperatures.

Then there’s the increase in the number looking for help who are separated from their family and simply can’t make ends meet this time of year. And inevitably around Christmas, there will be relationship breakdowns as well.

Mid West Simon’s staff and volunteers move mountains to try and provide refuge from the despair. It shouldn’t be this way but they have incredible will. And I’ve experienced it myself on this journey.

In this increasingly polarized world we live in, more and more are moving further from the margins of what Jim O’Brien writes about.

“It is good to be home, where there is flesh and blood and love – as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be.”

This Christmas, we hope and pray will be the last homeless Christmas for the people Mid West Simon.

With your help, it can be.

If you can, please donate to Mid West Simon. Their Christmas campaign is ‘Help Unwrap

the Gift of Hope this Christmas’. It’s a great thing to do and if you can help, please scan the QR