Eight Sinn Féin Councillors are to hold a 24-hour sleep out this Friday ( September) to highlight the county's housing crisis.

The 'Build Homes' sleep out and fast will commence at 6pm and will take place at Kennedy Road/Navan Shopping Centre.

Sinn Féin has also called for a motion for a state house building programme which will be debated at a meeting of Meath County Council on Monday 8 September.

Councillor Darren O'Rourke said: "The housing crisis in Co Meath needs to be highlighted. It needs to be addressed. That is why we in Sinn Féin have organised the 'Build Homes' 24 hour sleep out and fast, and why we have tabled a motion to the next meeting of Meath County Council. Our message is very clear – Build Homes.

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"Despite receiving a strong mandate to do the opposite, this Government has completely failed to address the housing crisis. The sum total of their housing policy is a three page document written in 2011. This says it all! Instead of getting better, the situation is getting worse. Hundreds of thousands of people throughout the state are left without suitable and sustainable accommodation.

"In Meath alone 3,625 families are on the social housing waiting list. This does not include those families on medium term contracts on the Rental Accommodation Scheme, so the true number is significantly higher."

(CD/JP)