A homeless charity has said there is growing agitation in its queues as more women and children are forced to avail of its services.
Muslim Sisters of Eire is a voluntary group that assists vulnerable people in Dublin. The group organises weekly food runs outside the GPO on O'Connell Street, with hot meals dished out to hundreds of people each Friday.
Sabina Syed is a long-time volunteer with the group. She explained that demand for the service has shot up amid the cost of living crisis as families increasingly crop up in the queues in need of food.
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She told Dublin Live: "We are getting more women and children recently, as well as restlessness in the queues. We try to bring pregnant women and older people up into the front but some people get very agitated with that, especially young men, when we're just trying our best to help."
The group is appealing for more volunteers to join the team ahead of a busy summer. Sabina explained that regular volunteers often go away during the break, which poses challenges to the existing team.
Muslim Sisters of Eire described their last food run as 'exhausting' in a recent Facebook post. The group doled out 400 hot meals over the course of the evening, in addition to foods such as sandwiches, fruit and crisps.
The charity is also running several events this summer promoted on their social media campaign. Volunteers organise an annual picnic event in the Phoenix Park each June, which has proved hugely successful as a family day out.
Sabina explained: "A lot of effort goes into it with food trucks taking part and there were 400 attendees last year. We get permission from Dublin City Council to have donation boxes there if anyone wants to support what we do."
The group also encourages any businesses or restaurants who want to participate in the delivery of hot meals to get in touch. Enquires can be made through the group's Facebook page.
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