There are currently 1,200 'active' cases in the mortgage to rent process nationally and Fr McVerry wants to see the number increased significantly this year.

Much of Ireland's homeless accommodation would be "closed down overnight" if it faced similar quality checks to the country's hospitals, according to a prominent homelessness activist.

The image of a child eating his food off a piece of cardboard on the streets of the capital should outrage society, leading campaigner for the homeless, Fr Peter McVerry believes.

One of the country’s main homelessness campaigners has described the Government’s Rebuilding Ireland plan as “an abject failure” which exacerbated the problem it was meant to address.

The Government needs to step in to ensure local authorities integrate social housing into large developments says veteran campaigner for the homeless, Fr Peter McVerry.

A new record of 10,264 homeless people is triggering calls for the upcoming local elections to be treated by voters as a referendum on the Government’s “failed” housing policies.

Trade unions, housing advocates, and community and campaign groups have come together to call for a radical shift in housing policy.

Fr Peter McVerry, in a stark indictment of us all, warned yesterday that “an avalanche of homelessness is coming.”

Historian Catherine Corless, the Irish Coast Guard, crew of Rescue 116, rugby referee Joy Neville and campaigner Vera Twomey were among those honoured at tonight’s Rehab People of the Year Awards.

A national register detailing how much landlord TDs rent out properties for would ensure transparency and prevent politicians using their position to ramp up rental prices.

Fr Peter McVerry has said that the homelessness situation in Ireland is now “beyond a crisis”.

The Government will not bring in a law that would stop families being evicted by landlords, as the number of people living in emergency accommodation hit record levels.

Fr Peter McVerry has said the country is returning to famine times by evicting families and that the Government is not willing to “take on” vested interests to solve the housing crisis.

A couple needs to be earning at least €75,000 between them to have any chance of buying a house, according to homelessness campaigner Fr Peter McVerry.

The whole country will be talking about this tomorrow.

The Government is to bring forward a bill on repossessions so judges can have more discretion in allowing people to stay in their homes despite the wishes of the banks.

HAPPY Christmas, Apollo House. There are a couple of reasons to cast a jaundiced eye at the occupation of Apollo House in Dublin city centre, writes Michael Clifford. 

You know the drill. The music cranks up, you shake off the rust from your joints and you climb to your feet.

Homeless children put up in a hotel are banned from playing in the garden but dogs are allowed, a parliamentary watchdog has heard.

Homeless children put up in a hotel are banned from playing in the garden but dogs are allowed, an Oireachtas watchdog has heard.

The Government have no idea what to do about the homeless crisis which is out of control, according to Fr Peter McVerry.

One of the country's best-known social justice campaigners is promising housing plans that would get rid of housing 'ghettoes' in favour of a more integrated approach.

Forensic tests are being carried out on a handgun and bicycle believed to have been dumped by the killer of innocent gangland attack victim, Martin O’Rourke.

The dangers of ignoring the “new poor” have been highlighted by the Society of the St Vincent de Paul which has warned that the current homelessness crisis is being accompanied by a “hidden” crisis of those on the brink of losing their lodgings.

The Government has been accused of reneging on a vow to have 150 “posh prefab” modular houses ready for the homeless by Christmas.

Ireland’s homelessness issue could be solved by Christmas if the political will existed to do it, Fr. Peter McVerry has suggested.

Renua Ireland leader Lucinda Creighton is to make a formal complaint to gardaí over revelations that potentially vital files belonging to ex-Garda commissioner Martin Callinan were destroyed before they could be examined by the Fennelly report.

Sr Stanislaus Kennedy has admitted she could never have imagined that the homelessness situation would be as bad as it is now when she founded Focus Ireland 30 years ago.

St Stanislaus Kennedy, Br Kevin Crowley and Fr Peter McVerry are all Catholics who are known for their struggle for social justice.

Fr Peter McVerry, founder of one of a leading homelessness charity, has received the 2015 Spirit of Mother Jones Award.

A leading homelessness campaigner has claimed, despite a national outcry over the death of a man outside the Dáil at Christmas, entire families are facing life on the streets for the first time “since the Famine”.

One of Dublin's most prominent activists for the homeless says mobile injecting clinics could be the answer to tackling drug abuse on Dublin's streets.

As a monument is unveiled today to the 222 children who died at a Protestant children’s home and were buried in unmarked graves, survivors of the home have pledged to continue their fight for justice.

Rugby legend Brian O'Driscoll and homeless campaigner Fr Peter McVerry were being awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin at a ceremony in the capital's Mansion House tonight.

The slum conditions existing at the time of the 1913 Lockout continue today in “appalling” rented accommodation, Fr Peter McVerry has said.