Ireland's new invisible poor

According to data on Material Deprivation published by the European Commission, Ireland comes in at number three on the list of most deprived countries in the EU-15 – just after Greece and Italy. This means that one million people, or 28 percent of the Irish population, struggle to provide themselves with heat, shelter, food and bills. 600,000 people are living in food poverty. Food banks are popping up everywhere.

Valerie Cummins in a small corner of Dublin's run down north inner city works for Crosscare, a social support agency in Dublin that set up Ireland's first community food banks. She said  "Right now, demand is so high we can't keep up. People are dropping in all the time asking for emergency parcels to get them through the next few days. I've been working with Crosscare for 25 years and I have never seen things so bad. People are more desperate than ever."

Rose Sinclair-Doyle and mum of two from Tallaght, south Dublin recently started to use the new community food bank to feed her family. "People never think it could happen to them," she said. "I've been living under austerity for years, but it was only when my daughter moved back home with her two kids that the money just couldn't stretch to feed us all. I'm ashamed going in, but I need food," she said. "It's not an easy thing to do, but after I split from my partner I was left alone with the mortgage repayments. I don't get fuel allowance, so I have to think about heating my house, paying for electricity... it's so hard. " Rose added: "When I lived alone, I was able to stock up. Things were tight, but I could manage. I would always have that point where there'd be a bill I couldn't pay, but I got by until I was suddenly responsible for putting food on the table for four people. Then I had to get help. It just takes one thing to push you to the breadline, and that's where we are in Ireland right now."

Rose isn't alone. Students, the unemployed, people on low incomes and those who racked up massive debt during the economic boom are now starting to depend on Ireland's new community food banks to feed their families.

Brian Leech from the Anti Austerity Alliance in Tallaght, south Dublin told me the community food banks are drawing in Ireland's "new poor" who cannot manage from pay-cheque to pay-cheque explained  "Initially it was just people on benefits or low income who ran out of money at the end of the month. Now that's trickled down to middle income earners who are totally lost," he said. "The banks threw money at people during the boom, and now people are trying to pay it all back and feed their families. No one wants food banks, but people have to eat and the government isn't helping hungry people." Brian Leech feels that, in accepting help, we cannot overlook the root causes of poverty. "People need better lives, more income equality and jobs. The food banks are very important now, but we should all want a better future. We can't lose sight of the issues that are forcing people to go to food banks and forcing their very existence."

Valerie Cummins also referred to "new poor". "A man came in here last week. He drove up in a white van, was well dressed and well spoken," she said. "I could tell he was embarrassed, so I brought him into the office. He said he works full time but after bills that day he was left with €15 to feed his family for the week. He said his wife would die of shame if she knew he went to a food bank. Even though it's against policy, I put together an emergency parcel that will last him three days. I might never see him again – he's part of Ireland's new invisible poor, eking it out week to week. We shouldn't live in a world with food banks, but what can you do when people in here are hungry?"

Taken from here