A march through Galway city centre to demand that "every child needs a home' will take place this weekend, following the release of recent figures from COPE showing more than 150 children in Galway are homeless.
The "Every CHILD needs a HOME" march takes place this Saturday and is organised by People Before Profit Galway, the Galway Housing Action Group, and the Galway Anti-Racism Network. The march will assemble at the Court House, opposite the Town Hall Theatre, at 12.30pm.
"Leo Varadkar told Fine Gael that Irish homelessness was ‘low by international standards’, but having more than 150 homeless children in Galway is not low by Irish standards," said march co-ordinator Dette McLoughlin. "Fr Peter McVerry has said current homelessness levels have not been seen since the Famine years. It is not normal for the ever increasing number of children in Galway living in hostels, B&Bs, hotels, refuges or moving from house to house as their parents beg friends and relations to put them up for a while."
According to recent Focus Ireland figures, more than 8,492 people are homeless in Ireland, and one in three people experiencing homelessness is a child. The total number of people homeless has risen by 24 per cent since October 2016
"We plan to have a show of feeling in Galway and hope that people will be able to take just one hour out of their busy Saturday schedules to help send a strong message to our local and national Government," said Ms McLoughlin. "We ask the public to join in and give their support to this march. There will be a few short speeches by the groups organising the event."
