2025 Simon Week Conference addresses food poverty and family homelessness

Niall Garvey, CEO Mid West Simon, Ber Grogan, Executive Director Simon Communities Ireland and Joe McDonald, Housing Support Services, Limerick City and County Council pictured at the 2025 Mid West Simon Community conference which took place at the Strand Hotel, Limerick. Pic: Don Moloney

Mid West Simon held its 2025 Simon Week Conference in Limerick, highlighting the urgent issue of food poverty and family and child homelessness

Mid West Simon, in conjunction with the Simon Communities of Ireland, held its conference in Limerick, highlighting the urgent issue of food poverty and family and child homelessness on Tuesday, September 23.

In partnership with Mid West Simon Community, the conference will highlight how rising house costs, the shortage of affordable homes, and the cost-of-living crisis are pushing families into homelessness while also leaving many unable to afford or access nutritious food.

Experts in the sector addressed the key challenges relating to nutrition and food poverty faced by families and children across Clare, Limerick, and North Tipperary. Speaking at the event were Ber Grogan, Executive Director of Simon Communities of Ireland, Niall Garvey, Chief Executive of Mid West Simon, Dr Amy Healy, University of Limerick.

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Spokespersons from the Limerick City and County Council housing department also spoke on the day.

Two panels were presented at the conference – one with internal insights from Mid West Simon and persons of lived experience and another with external insights from Barnardos, Limerick Island Community partners, Limerick City Partnership, Northside Family resource centre.

Ber Grogan, Executive Director of Simon Communities of Ireland, said, “Families experiencing homelessness are living in impossible conditions, too often placed in emergency accommodation without access to proper cooking facilities and forced to rely on expensive takeaways or food charities. We must stop placing families in environments that deepen food poverty and instead ensure safe, affordable homes with the facilities and supports they need. No child in Ireland should grow up hungry or homeless.”

Niall Garvey, Chief Executive of Mid West Simon Community, went on to say that, “It is unacceptable that families are raising children in hotel rooms or emergency settings without access to a kitchen, unable to provide nutritious meals. In the Mid West, we are meeting more and more families who are stretched to breaking point. This is not just about poverty, it’s about dignity, health, and giving children the stability they need to thrive.”

Simon Week 2025 represents one of The Simon Communities of Ireland’s most focused national campaigns to date, uniting practitioners, policymakers, and communities to highlight food poverty and family homelessness and to drive urgent, practical action towards access to nutritious foods and secure and lasting housing solutions.