Latest news with #SocietyofStVincentdePaul
Irish Independent
21-07-2025
- General
- Irish Independent
Wexford man appointed as Peace Commissioner
A committed volunteer the Society of St Vincent de Paul, Tom serves as a Home Visitation officer, support vulnerable individuals and families in Wexford with compassion and confidentiality. Outside of his volunteer work, Tom is extremely engaged in promoting mental wellbeing and is aiming to develop a local mindfulness and compassion-based project to benefit people of all backgrounds. The role of Peace Commissioner is an honorary appointment made by the Justice Minister. They witness signatures on documents, take statutory declarations and affirmations and perform other duties permitted by law. "This is a voluntary position, and I won't be charging for any services,' Tom says. 'If you ever need a form signed or a declaration witnessed for something like a passport, social welfare, or other Irish documents, I'll do my best to help where I can — by appointment.' Delighted to take up the role and eager to get started, Tom can be contacted on 0871356861.
Irish Examiner
15-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Charity calls for targeted measures to help financially insecure families with soaring cost of living
Irish families have been left exposed to growing financial insecurity linked to the spiralling cost of living, and targeted measures must support them in this autumn's budget, a leading charity has said. In its pre-budget submission, the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) said with one-off-measures for all households now a thing of the past, it was vital to get the approach right to help families who need it most, as it expects to receive 250,000 calls for help this year. 'Poverty in a wealthy country like Ireland is a policy failure, but our next budget offers a vital opportunity to put financial certainty and dignity at the heart of Government decision-making,' SVP's head of social policy Louise Bayliss said. Rising poverty and homelessness rates should not be happening in a wealthy country with a growing economy. The charity said the core adult social protection rate must be increased by €16 a week, while increases should also be made to the Living Alone Allowance and the introduction of a weekly cost of disability payment to cover the additional costs facing people with a disability. Child income supports should also be increased, according to SVP, as current rates fall 'significantly short of what is needed". Other measures it called for included the benchmarking of third-level student grants with the cost of living, increasing the fuel allowance by €9.50 a week, and the piloting of a community energy advice service. The charity's national president Rose McGowan said the latest figures on poverty, which show around 45,000 more children are now living in consistent poverty in Ireland, demonstrate the clear need for action. 'These are not abstract statistics — they represent children growing up in cold bedrooms, going to school hungry, and missing out on the social and educational experiences that are fundamental to a healthy childhood,' she said. 'We know from our experience on the frontline that the right policy choices do make a difference — we saw it with the introduction of free schoolbooks and hot school meals. Budget 2026 must continue that momentum.' Read More MABS sees 10% surge in families in debt due to soaring cost of living
Belfast Telegraph
26-06-2025
- Business
- Belfast Telegraph
Charity puts Co Down accommodation on market for £1m
Clare Lodge close to Newcastle's promenade is owned by Ireland-wide charity St Vincent de Paul. It was first opened in the 1970s to offer respite breaks for those experiencing the worst of the Troubles in urban areas. It was later demolished and rebuilt, reopening in 2016 with 19 en suite bedrooms. However, the Castle Place building had been shut since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and this week went on sale through selling agents UPS. A spokesperson for the charity said: "We can confirm that Clare Lodge has been closed for five years and the Society of St Vincent de Paul has now placed it on the market for sale. "Any proceeds from the sale of the property will be used in the northern region to help alleviate poverty." A brochure for the property from UPS describes it as a 'substantial and modern commercial premises in the heart of Newcastle, Co Down — perfectly positioned with breath-taking views of the Mourne Mountains and the Irish Sea'. It adds that the 'versatile property offers immense potential for investors, hoteliers, or developers seeking a landmark building in one of Northern Ireland's most desirable coastal towns'. As well as 19 bedrooms, there is also a dining room, lounge and reception hall. There are also three commercial units which had been knocked together to operate as restaurant, which has since shut. The brochure states that each bedroom is 'fully furnished and finished to a modern standard, offering comfort and privacy for guests'. Aaron Ferris, a selling agent at UPS, said it had drawn interest from three parties after being on the market since earlier in the week. "It's perfectly set up for a boutique hotel with 19 bedrooms, all en suite, and a lot of them are family rooms, with a lot having sea views. 'There's a commercial element with three commercial units that were knocked into one and operated as a separate restaurant – but it would be very easy to have a bar or restaurant in it as part of a hotel in future. "You couldn't built it any better than it is already for use as a hotel.' He said that the town was busy in general, with other commercial units on the market attracting strong interest. Mr Ferris said that an investment property on Central Promenade with a cafe and Medicare pharmacy on the ground floor and apartments above it, which is on the market for £730,000, had drawn offers for £610,000. "There's a lot of viewers waiting in the wings before closing bids in July,' he said.
The Independent
06-02-2025
- The Independent
Family describes ‘enormous' pain after losing father in Omagh blast
The three children of Sean McGrath have paid tribute to their father as a 'considerate' man and successful businessman at the public inquiry into the Omagh bombing. They said it was painful to recall how their father died, saying it is 'too emotional to examine' and a wound that may never heal. Mr McGrath, 61, was a local businessman and grandfather who died of his injuries on September 5 1998, almost three weeks after the Omagh bombing. He was one of five siblings who lived above the family grocery business on Market Street in Omagh. His son Conor told the inquiry in a statement that his father's positive outlook and sociability meant he was 'a natural salesman' and he went on to work for large companies before opening his own bakery in Omagh. His bakery expanded to supply local hotels with fresh bread and he employed 30 people at one stage. ' One of his triumphs in the early 80s was making a deal with Harrods in London to supply a selection of traditional Irish breads, as he noticed they had breads from all over the world, but nothing from Ireland.' Conor McGrath said that his father gave some people 'a lot more chances than normal' but that 'no-one had a bad word to say' about him. The Society of St Vincent de Paul branch in the town was among the local charities he donated to, which benefited from any surplus baked goods he had at the end of the week. He was out shopping on the day of the Omagh bomb, which went off on the street where he was born. Conor McGrath's mother Nuala found his father 'among what can only be described as carnage in the hospital' at Omagh after the blast. Mr McGrath was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, where the family were told despite chest and leg wounds, he was expected to survive. Conor McGrath described what followed as 'a traumatic three weeks of hope being constantly shattered' as medical tests 'threw up complications'. 'I also had to collect dad's car from the car park behind Market Street. It had his shopping in it, which is when I realised that he'd gone back across the street to see if his barber, Leo Doran, was open. 'We know he was closed that day for his daughter Lisa's wedding, a godsend for them.' In a statement read out to the inquiry on her behalf, Mr McGrath's daughter Noleen said her father was 'considerate, gentle, kind to a fault'. She said he was 'slow to anger and the only real thing that made him cross was injustice of any form'. 'If my dad had a superpower, he would have been the protector. He protected my mother from difficult situations, my siblings and I from anything that was not happy and joyful, and would have been horrified to know we spent three weeks in a horrible limbo at the hospital, wondering if he would pull through despite his horrific injuries. 'He couldn't protect us from that hideous time. When my dad died, although it was a sort of relief, the light definitely went out for a long time. However, remembering the best of him has rekindled the light.' His son Gavin and daughter-in-law Emma were expecting their first child on the same week the bomb exploded, and Mr McGrath had planned to travel to London that week to visit them. Their daughter Polly was born on August 18. 'Polly's first trip from our home in England to my home town in Omagh was to go to her grandpa's funeral,' Gavin McGrath said in a statement read out by his wife Emma. A video was played at the inquiry of Mr McGrath playing with his granddaughter Sarah at her second birthday in April, just four months before the bomb blast. Conor McGrath said the aftermath of the blast was 'as surreal as it was devastating' and that the family suffered from PTSD for a long time. 'It still hurts to talk about Sean's death – murder – which is why I avoid the issue. Every anniversary just picks at the scar, maybe not as raw now, but still not healed, and I doubt it ever will. 'This process has been difficult to confront, but necessary to tell you about the father I knew – always positive, faithful, hard-working, warm-hearted, and very much missed by all who knew him well.' Gavin McGrath said the impact on their family and been 'too emotional to examine'. 'I feel that unless they've absolutely had to, our family have metaphorically looked the other way in respect of how my father has died, as talking about that horrendous day and the aftermath is simply too enormous to discuss. 'If we don't open the wounds, we can't feel the pain. It's not what is recommended by the experts, but it is literally the only way we can all deal with it.'
