The Government must concede that its strategy to reduce homelessness is not working, according to leading campaigner Fr Peter McVerry.

Two subjects have dominated these columns for a number of years and will for some to come.

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.

It was hard not to groan at the news that a plan to build almost 300 homes in the Dublin suburb of Glasnevin has been turned down by the planning board.

New legislation is planned to prevent landlords from evicting long-term tenants without a clear reason.

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.

Somewhere in the bowls of Government Buildings, this week or next, a committee made up of second-tier bureaucrats, maybe a theatre consultant too, will meet to update preparations for the events scheduled to mark this Republic’s looming foundation centenaries.

Homeless campaigner Fr Peter McVerry says that figures for the homeless are closer to 15,000, but that the actual figure is "irrelevant" because the trend is “going up and up and up.”

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.”

THE word ‘filibustering’ keeps popping up in the media. It snuck into the Irish vernacular around the time of the referendum on the Eighth Amendment, writes Joyce Fegan.

Leo Varadkar has been forced to admit the worsening homelessness crisis is a national “emergency” as campaigners rounded on the Government’s policies which have left 10,000 people without homes.

Ireland’s spiralling rental crisis is failing to be addressed because one in every five TDs are landlords and have a clear conflict of interest on the issue, campaigners have warned.

Songwriter Glen Hansard has accused the Government of behaving like Donald Trump in its handling of the homeless crisis.

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.

Sligo survived a brief but real scare in the Bronx tonight before their experience and class told late on to see off a spirited New York.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has insisted the pending political battle over water charges will not collapse his weak minority Government.

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.

Homeless campaigner Fr Peter McVerry has warned that another 25,000 families could lose their homes unless the Government takes drastic action.

A leading social justice activist has said he will not be lending his support to the occupation of a Dublin office block for homeless accommodation.

Ending homelessness is not achieved easily or quickly — that was the message from the Government as it announced an action plan to address the crisis.

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.

Solving the housing and homeless crisis will cost €10bn, campaigners have told politicians.

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.

Father Peter McVerry is calling for an immediate increase of 28% in rent supplement to prevent more families from becoming homeless.

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.

If the polls are anything to go by it looks like the electorate in their wisdom are ready to force a marriage of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael as the only viable government after February 26.

Hundreds of new beds are available to homeless people since Jonathan Corrie’s death galvanised us into action. But the number of people on the street is still growing, writes Elaine Loughlin

Keeping the universal social charge could eliminate homelessness within five years, a leading campaigner has claimed.

The Dublin Region Homeless Executive is already trying to put contingency plans in place to find rooms for families living in hotels that are due to close over the Christmas period or have been booked out in advance.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny should declare a national emergency on rent and housing, a leading homeless campaigner has said.

Prefabricated homes must become part of the solution to the homeless crisis before winter sets in, the Peter McVerry Trust has urged.