83 families became homeless in February, says charity.

New figures from Focus Ireland show that 83 families became homeless in February.

A breakdown of the charity's numbers reveals that children are being hardest hit, with 363 losing their homes in the first two months of the year.
The Government is to hold a forum on housing and homelessness in Dublin today, hosted by Acting Housing Minister Alan Kelly.

Campaigners are calling for a politicians from all political parties to unite to deal with the crisis.

Niamh Randall, national spokesperson for the Simon Communities in Ireland, said that urgent action needs to be taken.

"The key question we'll be asking Minister Alan Kelly is 'What happens next?'," she said.

"We need a concrete plan with someone who's going to take full responsibility for implementation.

"So one of the calls that we're making is for a cross-party platform to address this crisis immediately.

"We're calling on all recently-elected TDs to agree that everybody is entitled to an affordable, secure and safe home, and that nobody should be homeless in the Ireland of 2016."

Source : Breaking News 31/03/2016