CAMPAIGN BLOG

16 Oct 2009

World Poverty Day (written by Fergus Finlay, Barnardos Chief Executive)

(written by Fergus Finlay, Barnardos Chief Executive)

Saturday October 17th is World Poverty Day. There could hardly be a more appropriate time to reflect on the fact that we have poverty in our own midst - and poverty makes people suffer.

Every child is a wellspring of talent and potential, waiting to bubble up to the surface. The love all of us have for our children - manifested through effective parenting - is the thing that enables that talent to flower. Poverty gets in the way of love - it traps parents in a vicious circle of trying to cope with the stresses in their own lives, and it often (not always) leaves no room for children. The added pressures that poverty brings, especially in disadvantaged communities (debt, alcohol and drug addiction, violence) can blight the life of a child and do irreparable damage. We spend billions in Ireland on picking up the pieces after that damage has been done - and virtually nothing on preventing it. On World Poverty Day, maybe we could think for a few minutes about the value of prevention.

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