THE CO-FOUNDER OF a homelessness charity which was used by a woman who died while sleeping rough in Dublin has described her as a “beautiful lady”.

Natasha Smith, aged in her 40s, was found dead on Pearse Street at around 12.30pm on Friday afternoon.

Senator Aubrey McCarthy, who is also the co-founder of charity Tiglin, told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that Natasha was a “beautiful lady”.

Tiglin also runs the Lighthouse Café in Dublin city, which provides essentials for people experiencing homelessness and food poverty. 

McCarthy said Natasha visited the Lighthouse Café and said that last Friday, a member of staff at the Lighthouse passed a tent Natasha had been sleeping in when one of her friends called him over.

McCarthy said the Lighthouse worker “realised Natasha was non-responsive and performed CPR for about five minutes”.

Paramedics soon arrived from a nearby fire station but Natasha was later pronounced dead at St James’s Hospital.

Natasha had attended a Céilí organised by Tiglin on Thursday night and McCarthy said it is at events such as these “where you build up trust”.

“Once that trust is built up, then people who are sleeping rough can accept help and perhaps begin to believe that support is possible.

“Thursday night was one of those nights, so it is absolutely devastating and heart-wrenching for the team to see Natasha passing.”

He said Tiglin has lost three clients in the last few weeks.

McCarthy said many people who sleep rough “feel that they have no choice” and he called for “supported efforts that are multi-disciplinary”, which would include mental health and addiction supports.

“People that choose to live on the streets have complex needs and they don’t always feel safe indoors,” said McCarthy.

“So even when you offer a hostel, hostels can often re-traumatise people because they’re losing control, they’re losing their independence.

“The policies that we have where one size fits all, they don’t work.

“Frontline services need proper funding to supply supportive, trauma-informed models for people like Natasha.”