Recession puts pressure on charities

Date Published: 02-Oct-2008

THE economic downturn is already seriously hurting those closest to the breadline – demand for the services provided by the St. Vincent de Paul alone has grown by over 30% in County Galway over the past year.

People who have recently lost their jobs and single mothers with young families have resorted to contacting the as their financial circumstances plummet.

And it has been revealed that some have been threatened that their gas and electricity supplies will be cut off if they cannot meet their bills. Fears have also been expressed that many families who are currently strapped for cash will resort to moneylenders in an effort to keep ‘the wolf from the door’.

The downturn in the economy coupled with massive unemployment in the building sector in particular has resulted in ‘a new poor’ being created across the county. The rising cost of energy and fuel has also resulted in the St. Vincent de Paul being inundated with requests for assistance — in fact the level of help being asked for is now being compared to crisis situation in the 1980s.

Colm Noonan, Administrator of St. Vincent de Paul in Galway, said that …..