How one community worker survived homelessness

Sean Kinsella can't walk through Ballymun in Dublin without being stopped by people who know him.

It's where he was born and raised. It's where went to school and made friends. It's where he became homeless and addicted to heroin.

And now, it is where he does much of his community work, having made a career helping other people overcome challenges.

"Homelessness, for me, started when I was quite young," Mr Kinsella explained.

He pointed to an alcove tucked away at the back of the Virgin Mary Church on Shangan Road, where he used to "sleep cuddled up in the corner", aged 14.

While he didn't know it then, Mr Kinsella has since been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

"I was very dysregulated at that stage in my life and I was looking for a shelter. I was looking for somewhere to go.

"I wasn't happy in my family home and there was a lot of stuff going on there, so I was accessing homeless services," he said.

"Addiction was something that also just became part of my growing up. If you like, it was an escape.

"I had friends that were doing the same thing, so we hung around with them. We would go to hostels together, so it was like nearly hand in hand," he said.

Mr Kinsella described how youth homelessness and addiction turned into adult homelessness and addiction. He then became involved in crime and spent time in several prisons and institutions.

"Every time I got out of an institution or anywhere like that, I would never have anywhere to live.

"You would be trying to get back into a hostel, or you know, getting HAP (Housing Assistance Payment), or trying to get a landlord to feel sorry for you, to give you a place, you know, and try to manage that. But that was never manageable," he said.

"It is a lonely road - a very, very lonely road - because when you're homeless and you have nothing, and you're struggling with your mental health, and you have no money to pay bills or feed yourself, or you've nowhere that you feel like you belong.

"I always felt, you know, less than. I felt like I was 'in the way' in society, if that makes sense."

He continues: "I would look at people who had jobs and were bringing their kids to school when I was homeless, and I'd be thinking it was nearly like another world, you know, and that separation from society, for me, had a massive impact on how I viewed myself and what I thought about myself. So I think it's a really, really difficult road."

A very vulnerable stage

In 2009, at the age of 29, he made the decision to try and turn his life around.

"I had to reach out for help, which is a really difficult thing to do for somebody that, you know, has low self-esteem."

He said that he turned to Fr Peter McVerry, who had once helped him with a place in a hostel as a homeless teen, and who helped him again as an adult.

"He put me up in a flat for a period of time, and then I got a bed in the stabilisation (unit) where I started to manage my life.

"I started getting my medical card, I started looking after my health, I started eating well, sleeping, and getting me teeth done, and all this basic stuff, and I started really enjoying life again. I started playing football and just started to connect with myself," he said.

When he left the stabalisation unit, he spent time in a bedsit in Summerhill, and, later, in a drug treatment recovery house, which he shared with five others. From there, he moved into independent living accommodation.

His dream was to have his own place and he applied for social housing, but he found that the past he was trying to escape presented fresh challenges.

"I had to fight for that because of my background and criminal convictions... I had to get advocacy. I had to get people to vouch for me, and I had to prove, I suppose, that I was somebody that could be responsible, and, fortunately, I got my own flat," Mr Kinsella said.

He now has a two-bedroom apartment in Drumcondra where his Bachelor of Arts in Sports Coaching hangs on the wall.

He is the proud dad of eight-year-old Harper Lily and he has set up Sean Kinsella - Lived Experience, a wellbeing organisation that works with community groups, schools and prisons, as well as directly with people experiencing or trying to escape drug addiction and homelessness.

"I help them to navigate the frustrations, the obstacles, you know, computer stuff like emails, navigating social media, and basically understanding how you apply for a job, and get housing," he explained.

"It's a really difficult thing if you get a knockback or somebody says no to you. Sometimes that can be the difference between someone making it and not making it."

'Transitioning on the same journey'

Today, Mr Kinsella is speaking at Simon Communities of Ireland's conference, which is examining, in particular, single adult homelessness and how Ireland can meet its commitment to end homelessness by 2030.

Single adults represent 61% of all adults currently in emergency homeless accommodation.

Single adult homelessness has also increased by 61% in the last five years, climbing from 4,501 in July 2021 to 7,244 in July 2026.

"I would spend a lot of time with lads who are transitioning on the same journey that I went on, and I'm able to help them and maybe advocate for them, and maybe coach them and mentor them, and just try and give them my experience with how I navigated that.

"But, again, it's fairly complex because what worked for me may not work for somebody else.

"It's important to look at it with a really individual perspective, as opposed to saying what worked for me is going to walk for every single adult who is struggling with gaining accommodation or housing or security."