Cork charity says homeless crisis is getting worse

One of Ireland’s oldest charities has said the homeless crisis is getting worse and it is supporting more people than ever before.

Cork Penny Dinners said a song recorded by a 19-year old music student to highlight the challenges of its work is helping to turn a negative into a positive.

The run-up to Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year for the charity and its tiny kitchen is now producing more than 3,000 three-course meals per week.

Before the economic crash a decade ago, Penny Dinners was producing just 150 meals per week.

Now it has to produce significantly more than that every day to ensure that everyone who needs to be fed is looked after.

Cork Penny Dinners can trace its roots back 130 years, to the late 1880s.

Elizabeth 'Eiza' Murphy is a singer/songwriter from Cork, currently studying at the Academy of Contemporary Music in London.

She was so moved by the work of Cork Penny Dinners on the growing homeless crisis that she wrote a song and recorded it with videographer Stephen Bean of University College Cork, the Cork High Hopes Choir and a host of other musicians.

Penny Dinners Volunteer Co-Ordinator Caitriona Twomey said Eiza's work is helping to raise awareness about its work and the devastation homeless causes.