‘Lost in homelessness’: The life and times of Derek Byrne, the man found dead in a Dublin recycling centre

Derek Byrne’s body was discovered on a Friday morning in late September just as the weather was starting to change.

Workers at the Panda recycling centre in Ballymount, southwest Dublin, called gardaí at about 6.45am on September 27th. They had discovered Byrne’s remains at the waste-collection facility, after apparently being picked up from the city centre by a refuse-collection vehicle some time earlier.

Byrne also went by the name of Derek Kearney, using his mother’s surname, but he was known to most people by his father’s surname. He was 37 years old at the time of his death and he was homeless.

A Garda spokesman said on Thursday that inquiries into Byrne’s death are ongoing, with a file being prepared for the coroner’s office. The exact cause of his death is yet to be disclosed.

People who knew Byrne shed more light on how he might have ended up at the recycling centre.

“[He was] cold, nowhere to live, so he decided that the best possible safe place to sleep tonight is in this bin,” says Eddie Hutton, sitting at a table at the Light House cafe on Pearse Street in Dublin last Monday.

“The safest place tonight is in this bin – that was the mentality.”

Hutton, a floor manager at the cafe run by homeless charity Tiglin, met Byrne when the latter left Finglas in the early 2000s and moved to the Dublin 5 area on the northside of the city.

Back then, both men had an interest in horses, says Hutton.

“He loved the horses. I used to have horses growing up. I would let my little brother take the horses out, so him and Derek would go out on the horses, ripping around Kilbarrack on them,” he said.

“That was our way of distraction.”

Both Hutton and Byrne fell into patterns of drug use in the late 2000s, says Hutton. There was little to deter young men such as him and Byrne, says Hutton; there was a lot of criminality, drug dealing in the area and little by way of youth diversion services.

Those who knew Byrne and spoke with The Irish Times this week describe a generous and kind-hearted man, but whose adult life was shaped by years spent in the throes of addiction.

Byrne spent some time in prison, often for “petty” theft-related crimes fuelled by that addiction, according to those who knew him. While not in custody, he fell into homelessness, moving between hostels and homeless shelters.

“He was a lovely, young lad … really nice, really pleasant, always looked out for other people,” Hutton said.

“And then in times of need, people sort of turned their back on him, because of the stigma around homelessness and drug addiction.”

Hutton himself struggled with drugs, and spent some time in prison with Byrne, but has since beaten his addiction and is working full-time at Tiglin.

“Over time, with no support, things obviously got a bit worse [for Byrne],” Hutton adds.

Alan Kiernan met Byrne growing up in Finglas, and also spent a short time in custody with him.

“He had his difficulties … but he was good-hearted. People like that do have good hearts,” Kiernan said, sitting at the front entrance to the Light House cafe on Tuesday afternoon.

“He’d do anything for you.”

Byrne lost his former girlfriend Tracey Pepper, a Ballymun native, when she died in October 2020, Kiernan says. “[He] never stopped talking about her.”

A message of condolence – signed “Derek” – left under Pepper’s RIP.ie death notice reads: “Tray your [sic] the love of my life my biggest wish is to have you back.”

After her death, Byrne went “downhill”, says Kiernan. “He really missed his girlfriend.”

Byrne did express a desire to tackle his addiction issues in recent times. He was good with his hands, and had experience working with cars, according to Hutton.

“He always said to me: ‘I’d love to have my own car.’”

Kiernan, who works running deliveries at the Light House, last saw him about four or five weeks before his death. “I tried to say: ‘Listen, there’s my number … there’s help there’,” he said. “You have to want the help.”

Hutton says that Byrne’s family also made efforts to help him tackle his addiction. The deceased man’s family was contacted during the reporting of this article, but a request for interview was declined.

Those at the Light House, including Hutton, encouraged Byrne to attend addiction services meetings or to consider residential care.

But the realities of homelessness in the city centre often complicates efforts to beat addiction. Hutton describes Byrne as being “lost in homelessness”.

“You end up owing money on the street because you call these people your friends, but they’re not really your friends, they’re just feeding you drugs, so they can get a bill off you. And then you’re watching over your shoulder,” Hutton said.

He last saw Byrne a week before his death. “It’s really, really sad to be honest.”

A funeral service for Byrne was held at Glasnevin Crematorium earlier this month. He is survived by his mother, two brothers and extended family. According to his death notice, Byrne was predeceased by his infant daughter, Cara.