Galway Bay fm newsroom -
50 families, including over 130 children, stayed in emergency accommodation across Galway on Friday night.
The figure has been released as COPE Galway launches its 2016 Annual Report.
COPE's services engaged with 500 homeless children last year.
It shows that during 2016, 649 families sought help - 702 adults and 512 children.
COPE Galway's Martin O'Connor says these figures will continue to rise until more housing is made available.
The keynote address at today's launch was delivered by Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, Dr Geoffrey Shannon.
In his address, he explained how a child's human rights are seriously affected when the child is placed in emergency accommodation.
Dr Shannon says experiencing homelessness as a young child can have damaging consequences.
