A 16-year-old girl from Dublin who is facing her second Christmas homeless has described how the experience is "crushing down her personality".
Lauren Hogan's family became homeless in the summer of 2017.
The transition year student, her younger brother and her mother spent last Christmas in a hotel.
They moved into temporary family hub accommodation in the capital earlier this year.
"I don’t really want to be thinking about Christmas right now. You’re so stressed out and there’s the overwhelming feeling of being in the hub still," Lauren said.
While living in the city centre hotel, Lauren studied for her Junior Certificate and received five honours in her results.
"School is good and it’s a good escape from the situation," she added.
"But it is hard to hear the other girls talking about mothers putting up Christmas trees. It kind of does kill your Christmas spirit when you’re going by houses and they have all their lights and decorations up and their Christmas trees."
Remembering her favourite Christmas, Lauren said: "Probably one of my favourite Christmases was my last Christmas with my nanny."
Lauren's great-grandmother died in June 2017, a month before the family became homeless.
"I didn’t have my own place to grieve when she did die. I had to suck it up, obviously because I didn’t want to upset my mother or my brother.
"Every Christmas I always think about her now. But it’s different now. My nanny used to be like an escape for me from hard situations like this."
Nearly 10,000 people were recorded as homeless, according to the latest figures from the Department of Housing.
Of the 9,724 people without a home, 5,999 were adults and 3,725 were children.
