Up to 10,000 people have taken part in a protest in Dublin demanding action to end the housing crisis.

Organised by the National Homeless and Housing Coalition, a central aim of the protest is to get the Government to declare an emergency.

Marchers gathered at the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Square before marching down O'Connell Street and on to the Customs House for a rally.

They pointed to the latest figures showing nearly 10,000 people are in emergency accommodation.

Sinn Féin's housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said the Government needed to declare an emergency but "back it up" by providing public housing.

Solidarity/People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said the housing crisis was spiralling out of control and unless there was an end to evictions it would not be solved.

A number of musicians, including Damien Dempsey, performed at the rally.

Buses had been organised to bring people from a number of parts of the country, including Galway, Limerick, Wexford, Waterford, Cork and Sligo.

The movement is supported by the main housing charities, trade unions and political parties including Sinn Féin, People Before Profit, the Social Democrats and the Labour Party.

It is the third protest organised by the coalition.

Other demands are the construction of 10,000 units of public housing a year, making housing a constitutional right, ending evictions, rent control and ending emergency hotel accommodation.

Yesterday, Dublin City Council confirmed that over 500 of its housing units are currently unoccupied.