It looks like well over 500 men and women, and 164 children, will be facing into the trauma being homeless in Cork this Christmas.
That's according to Cork Simon's Paul Sheehan, who says "It's alarming to see record numbers of people depending on emergency accommodation in Cork so early in the Winter season", but that it wasn't surprising "as pressure from the crisis has been building for months".
The Department of Housing's latest Homeless Report shows homeless figures during the last calendar week of October.
It reported the highest ever number of men and women, on record, relying on emergency accommodation in Cork.
Nationwide, 11,397 people needed emergency accommodation in October, including 3,480 children.
According to the report, the number of adults depending on emergency accommodation in Cork in October increased 5% in one month compared to September, and increased by 15% in twelve months.
Wayne Stanley of the Simon Communities of Ireland says it's the largest national increase seen since May 2020 - in the first lockdown:
"11,397 people in emergency accommodation as we head into Christmas is stark, shocking and unacceptable. It's the largest increase in homelessness we've seen since May 2020. This is the largest number we've ever seen - and the notion even a few years ago that we would pass 11,000 was unimaginable".
