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MAY 2001
Battling to Feed Young Children on £15 a Week
DUBLIN - Since the Irish Government has announced a plan aimed at encouraging tax incentives for people to invest in a savings plan, many working with the economically disadvantaged have criticized the government saying that it continues to reward the well-off, while ignoring the day-to-day battle of those trying to live on welfare.
The Vincentian Partnership for Justice is a Dublin organization currently working on a study which will demonstrate the urgent need to address these issues.
Sister Bernadette McMahon of the organization said the government is "totally uninformed" about the harsh reality of life for many people.
She warns that the less well-off are becoming more and more alienated from the rest of Irish society and has called for social welfare payments to be increased.
"Some families have told us they only expect to get out of debt when their children grow up," says Sister Bernadette. She added that while the number of loan sharks have been reduced because of better legal restrictions, people
still borrow from their families or credit unions, becoming trapped in a constant spiral of debt.
Sister Bernadette said she knows one debt-ridden young mother who has just £15 to feed herself and her two children for the week. "Many mothers in these circumstances will usually spend what little they have on feeding their children and exist on tea and a piece of bread themselves," she revealed.
Justin O'Brien, of Focus Ireland, said, "The reality is that local authorities are unable to find enough accommodation for people." He added "the effects of homelessness on people are severe, with isolation and damage to self-esteem and confidence."
He said the hidden side of homelessness is the number of people living in so-called emergency housing.
On any given night there are some 300 to 400 people living in B&Bs throughout Dublin city, while emergency hostels all over the country were full. O'Brien blames cutbacks in housing throughout the 1980s and 1990s for today's accommodation crisis.
Massive Shake-up in Irish Foreign Affairs
DUBLIN - Plans are being laid for the biggest ever shake-up in the Irish diplomatic service. A move by Foreign Affairs Secretary General, Padraic McKernan, to the Paris embassy, will trigger changes in not fewer than 12 overseas posts.
There will be a move to consolidate the country's presence in the former Eastern Bloc where there are embassies only in Poland and the Czech Republic. Foreign Minister, Brian Cowen, is considering establishing embassies in Slovakia, Lithuania and Estonia.
All the changes will begin to take effect from summer when Dermot Gallagher, former ambassador to Washington and a key figure in the preparation of the Good Friday Agreement, takes over as Secretary General in Iveagh House.
Gallagher has been Secretary General in the Department of the Taoiseach but is going back to his "old" department following a Cabinet decision to merge two posts in the Taoiseach's Department.
Five retirements, a decision by London Ambassador, Ted Barrington, to take a career break, establishment of new embassies and a four-year rotation of ambassadors all contribute to the shake-up.
Retired, or due to retire, are Eamon O'Toole, Holy See; Eamon Ryan, Belgium; John Campbell, Portugal; Paul Dempsey, Ottawa; Geraldine Skinner, Luxembourg.
Denis O'Leary, Permanent Representative to the EU, is also due to move and among ambassadors
likely to go to a new posting is Dick O'Brien, who has been in Australia for five years. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is going to South America in July and is expected to announce the establishment of an Embassy in Brazil.
- The Irish Independent
Quarter of all Irish
Passports Issued Abroad
DUBLIN - A quarter of the 2.72 million Irish passports in circulation were issued by Irish embassies and consulates abroad, according to figures issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs in response to a recent question by Fine Gael TD Austin Deasy.
It was not possible to give a breakdown of how many of these 705,000 people had been born in Ireland, as entitlement to citizenship includes people married to Irish citizens for over three years, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of people born in Ireland.
About 430,000 of the passports were processed by the London embassy. Foreign Affairs Minister Brian Cowen stated he was satisfied that checking procedures were sufficient to ensure that only those entitled to Irish citizenship could obtain passports.
- The Irish Times
Garda Launches Investigation into Suspected F&M 'Fraud Scam'
DUBLIN - The culling of sheep in the Cooley Peninsula during the foot-and-mouth disease crisis has uncovered what may prove to be a massive fraud scam. The Garda and the Department of Agriculture are investigating cases in County Louth where it is alleged farmers claimed EU ewe premium scheme for sheep that did not exist.
Farmers in the area claimed for 6,625 ewes that could not be located during the mass culling, according to Department of Agriculture figures. The department found irregularities on 100 farms during the cull. Farmers get £19 per ewe under the scheme and it has been estimated that the fraud bill could top £130,000.
Farmers in the area claimed for 37,165 animals but only 30,540 animals could be accounted for. The department said that investigations are ongoing to finalise which farmers where involved and to what extent.
Historical Papers in Danger of Rotting
DUBLIN - There is deep concern about the preservation of thousands of important historical documents dating back to the time of Pirate Queen Grace O'Malley in thel580's which are under threat from damp and rot.
The documents are at Westport House in County Mayo and include signed letters from the patriot Patrick Sarsfield, the Duke of Wellington and the Nineteenth Century British Prime Minister, William Gladstone. A £250,000 EU grant is being sought to safeguard them.
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Construction Begins on Port Tunnel
Construction work has commenced on the Dublin Port tunnel. It is being built in an effort to relieve traffic congestion in the capital and specifically to prevent heavy vehicles from crossing the city. The project when completed in 2004 will link Dublin Port to the M50 and is expected to cost IR£353 million.
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Irish in Britain Need Assistance
Sister Teresa Gallagher, who is normally based in London, was in Bundoran, County Donegal for the conference of the Association of Health Boards. She spoke of the plight of the many Irish men in their fifties, unemployed and living alone, who could benefit from the support of her organization. These were the people, she said, who contributed much to this country by sending home money when times were hard. Sister Teresa was making the case for funding the psychotherapy counselling unit which she operates for members of the Irish community in Britain.
Bishop Casey Returns to Ireland
LIMERICK - Eamonn Casey, the former Bishop of Galway, recently travelled from London to officiate at a family wedding in County Limerick. Bishop Casey was the chief celebrant at a con-celebrated wedding Mass on April 15 at the Parish Church in Meanus for the marriage of his nephew Pat Clifford to Orla Casey.
The Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray gave special permission to Bishop Casey to officiate at the wedding in his diocese. After the revelation that he had an affair and a son with Annie Murphy when he was Bishop of Kerry, Casey spent years in South America on missionary work before retiring to England. - The Irish Times
The Irish Franciscan
A poem written by Rosa Mulholiand of Belfast in 1845, The Irish Franciscan captures the courage and the Faith of the priests and people during the Penal Days. The words are as follows:
A barefoot Friar all in brown Weather-beat face and storm-rent gown,
Tattered hood over shaven crown, Travel as the sun goes down.
Whither ere morning goes he? Over the bog he moveth free. Bog so brown it is hard to see That brown man travelling patiently,
Hidden under his treadbare vest He holdeth one close to his breast,
O Lord, in what poor place of rest, This winter's eve thou harbourest,
Deep in the pool the rod lights die Darkness veileth the western sky. Only the plover cry and cry. Amen to prayer as they flutter by.
Who are these, thou barefoot man, Weak and weary under a ban, Who meet thee in the starlight wan?
Colum, Patrick and Adam-nan.
A barefoot Friar all in brown Weather-beat and thread-bare gown
Girdle of rope and shaven head Swingeth as the moon goes down.
Three with torches faint and white
Threading the holes to give thee light,
Bowing before the One of might, Thou barest with thee through the night.
Now the dawn opens in the East There's the Altar, and here the priest,
Welcome now to last and least, Who hunger for the Master's feast.
Table of rock and cloth of moss Gold and silver are Mommons dross.
Rude is the stone and rude the Cross.
O Christ, our gain, O world our loss.
Ye, banned and outlawed of the faith
Shrive ye now with bated breath, Hither the hunted hasteneth, Fear not the little pain of death.
Shines the moon on the curling sea,
Sigh the wind in the white thorn tree,
Forth from the bough of the gale blown tree
Swingeth a figure dolorously.
- Provided hy John Fitzgerald of New York.