He may live in the nearest thing we have to a palace, yet, in his annual Christmas message from the grandeur of Áras an Uachtaráin yesterday, President Higgins exuded more empathy and personal connection with Ireland’s homeless than many of our senior politicians.

Homeless children around the country are worried Santa will not be able to find them this Christmas.

Build more social and affordable housing, the Simon Communities in Ireland has told the Government.

A homeless man in his 20s has died while staying in emergency accommodation in Dublin.

More than 90% of rental properties are beyond the reach of people dependent on State housing benefits.

More than a quarter of all 6,906 homeless people recorded on night of Census 2016 were children.

The Cobh local electoral area has been officially designated as a national rent pressure zone (RPZ) to tackle rising rents.

Crystal Palace 2 Liverpool 4: Liverpool as champions? Dejan Lovren admitted the victory at Selhurst Park supported the case both for and against the title returning to Anfield for the first time since 1990.

With private rents now 10% higher across the country compared to a year ago, more measures are needed in addition to full rent certainty to stop people losing their homes, the Simon Communities has urged.

A man arrested over the murders of five friends in rural Alabama has blamed the massacre on drugs.

The Simon Communities of Ireland says census night will not be a “definitive” count of homelessness.

Homeless support agencies have expressed alarm at figures which show the number of people now living in emergency accommodation at an all-time high at 5,715 people.

Liverpool 0 West Ham 0

Exeter 2 Liverpool 2

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp hopes now his players have rediscovered the winning feeling the side can start to make more progress.

The number of families on the brink of homelessness nationally has risen by 84% since January, while Cork has experienced a seven-fold increase from 2011 to 2014 in those forced to sleep on the streets.

The Simon Community has criticised the Government for failing to introduce rent certainty measures in the budget.

Rent supplements must be increased as a matter of urgency in Budget 2016, the Simon Communities have said.

At a forum organised by the Simon Communities in Dublin, the charity argued the issue of housing and homelessness was now “out of control” and needed immediate Government intervention.

Homelessness charities war the crisis “is only getting worse” as figures reveal a 76% spike in the number of homeless families since the start of the year.

More than one in three people worry that rising rents will lead to an increase in homelessness, according to new figures from the Simon Community.

A homeless charity has warned of more hardship cases emerging as the country’s accommodation crisis spirals out of control.

A leading homeless charity has described the 55% increase in the number of families in emergency accommodation since the start of the year as “truly devastating”.

Homelessness is “spiralling out of control” as figures show more than 4,000 adults and children were in emergency accommodation around the country.

Only one in eight properties are available to rent within Rent Supplement and Housing Assistance Payment limits, a study shows.

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Time travel, strippers and football.

Gordon Cunningham (Letters, December 13) is correct in pointing out that no one knows when Jesus was born and that the Christian choice of December 25 may well derive from the pagan Roman celebration of the Sun.

The rise in the homeless population has been highlighted by a 17% increase, last year, in the number of people availing of services provided countrywide by the Simon communities

Simon Communities have presented Government with a 10-point plan in an attempt to help solve the current homelessness crisis.

Focus Ireland has welcomed the €2.2bn social housing investment over the next three years, but warned that a clear and urgent short-term response was needed to stem the homeless and housing crisis.

The Simon Communities has sounded a warning call about a growing fear of homelessness among people struggling to meet mortgage and rental payments.

A homeless charity has blamed the Central Remedial Clinic salary top-up scandal for a 20% fall in donations in the run-up to Christmas.

The country’s largest homeless charity has warned the sector can not take any further funding cuts in the upcoming budget.

STREET drugs, such as ecstasy (MDMA) and cannabis, are being examined for their medicinal value.

Jack Klugman, the prolific, craggy-faced character actor and regular guy who was loved by millions as the messy one in TV’s The Odd Couple and the crime-fighting coroner in Quincy, M.E., died, a son said. He was 90.