An emotional video has been produced to make people aware of the rising number of homeless people living in Ireland.
The film aims to show the problems faced by people forced to live on the streets, and how quickly and easily anybody can find themselves with no place to live.
It was produced by media company Assembly and features interviews with various homeless people in Ireland telling their story of how things went wrong for them.
One woman explains that after her partner lost his job, they couldn’t afford their mortgage repayments and had to give up their house. They then started renting but again couldn’t afford the payments and ended up living on the streets.
Her partner said he feels like a failure for letting her down and that all he wants to do is to protect her because she means the world to him.
Another homeless woman said that people just pass by her without acknowledgment as if she weren’t there. She said that people don’t want to give her money because they believe she will spend it on drink and drugs, but she points out that she doesn’t drink or take drugs.
The purpose of the campaign is to help people realise that those living on the streets are human beings and should be treated as such.
The name of the video is ‘Say Hello’ which encourages people to acknowledge and speak to homeless people as they pass them, and even chat to get to know them and understand their problems.
The number of homeless people living in Ireland has risen over the past year. There are a number of charities and campaign groups trying to tackle the problem.
Last year, the government began investing in modular housing as a short term solution for families with children that found themselves without a home.
Take a look at the Assembly video Say Hello.
Written by Andrew Moore