A heartbreaking photo that shows a young Irish boy eating his dinner off a piece of cardboard on the streets has gone viral.
The picture was shared by a café in Dublin that helps the homeless in the Irish capital, and shows a young boy, thought to be called Sam, kneeling on the ground eating food provided to him by the café.
The Homeless Street Café shared the photo on Facebook in order to raise awareness of the plight of those forced to live, eat and sleep on the streets.
One of the team's volunteers wrote: "We are home after another incredibly busy night. I'm exhausted, weary and emotional and should (guiltily) go to bed BUT there is an image burnt in all the team's minds tonight.
"It's wrong and it's distressing but this IS happening and it's only getting worse each week."
The post continued: "'Sam' is 5 and this was him eating a dinner of carbonara tonight on a sheet of cardboard. Can we really accept this?"
Since the café shared the tragic picture, those who have seen it responded with a mixture of anger, sadness and disbelief at the young boy's situation.
One person said: "So hard to see as a mother of 2 little boys, my heart is broke looking at this picture."
Another added: "I never imagined seeing an image such as this in Dublin.
"I won't forget it. Thank you for caring AND most importantly your actions."
Since the photograph was posted, 6,000 people have also shared it on their Facebook pages. It has also received more than 1,000 comments.
The Homeless Street Café has since responded and said it has been 'overwhelmed' by the amount of responses the post has received.
It said: "This post has reached over a quarter of a million people which is amazing and we have over a thousand comments and messages to go through.
"We are small volunteer group and all our team are back in their day jobs today so please bear with us as we navigate through our next steps."
The boy in the photograph, they confirmed, is currently staying in emergency accommodation and is going to school.
The café added: "His mother is simply trying to access nutritious home cooked meals for him. Most emergency accommodations strictly forbid cooking or food preparation."
Homeless Street Café's volunteers travel the streets of Dublin each Tuesday night handing out essentials such as toiletries, clothes and food to the homeless.
Featured Image Credit: FacebookTopics: World News, Feels