Some 300 people were given Christmas dinner at the RDS, Dublin, on Monday by the Knights of Columbanus. The Lord Mayor, Mr Maurice Ahern, attended the dinner for the homeless.
The number of people sleeping rough in Dublin tends to fall over Christmas as many spend it with families. However, the number sleeping rough has risen by over 60 per cent in three years, from 125 in 1997 to 202 this year, according to a "street count" carried out by the Simon Community.
Meanwhile, 1,207 Traveller families spent Christmas by the side of the road in conditions which the Citizen Traveller organisation says "could be compared to those in the Third World, with no running water, electricity, toilet facilities, heat or refuse collection".