Holly Cairns: How many homeless people are not being counted?

If local authorities can turn away people in caravans with no running water or power, and those fleeing abusive families, the homeless figures mean nothing

All the indications are the official number of people recorded as homeless may only be the tip of a much larger iceberg. They don’t account for people who are couch surfing or those sleeping rough on the streets. Picture: Larry Cummins

The unrelenting rise in homelessness paints a grim picture of a modern Ireland where, despite the country's wealth, some of our most vulnerable citizens continue to fall through the cracks.

The latest record-breaking figures are stark, with 16,614 people now living in homeless emergency accommodation. Shamefully, more than 5,000 of them are children. These numbers are a damning indictment of failed housing policy by successive governments.