An increasing number of people in Kilkenny are turning to St Vincent de Paul this Christmas, as a relentless spiral of debt pulls the middle class into poverty.
Every week, the charity is inundated with requests for help or advice from desperate Kilkenny families struggling to make ends meet. In the wake of yet another austerity budget, local SVP representative Liam Heffernan says that these days it is increasingly families from society’s middle class who are in need of assistance.
“The professional classes and the middle classes are coming to us in numbers that we have never seen before,” he says.
“Unfortunately, their problems are a lot more expensive – they’re not the sort of problems that an extra €10 a week, or a bag of coal or potatoes is going to solve. They also take a lot more time to resolve.
“It’s typical of what happens in families, where someone loses their job – through illness or through no fault of their own – and people find themselves running into mortgage difficulties or into debt. They panic and try to borrow money everywhere they can in order to survive and maintain their living. But eventually, the hammer falls and someone has to stay stop.”
Mr Heffernan says that most families go through some phase of financial strain, where they are suddenly beset with young children, or children going to college. Solutions are not always easily forthcoming, he says, but St Vincent de Paul can help.
“People can get through this with astute financial control and regulation, we can assist them to get back on track,” he says.
“We won’t be able to pay a mortgage, or all the bills, but what we possibly can do is have their whole financial situation reassessed with a professional money advisor, and see where we can go from there.”
In August of this year, Mr Heffernan warned that poverty levels in Kilkenny were on the rise. With a substantial leap in unemployment levels in the meantime, as well as last week’s budget – where does the situation now stand?
“It has actually deteriorated,” says the SVP representative.
“The poverty is there, it’s becoming more apparent as people come forward. It’s not a very pleasant place to be sitting at home looking at an empty fireplace, empty cupboards, no heating, maybe no light, no presents for Christmas. It’s a very lonely place to be.”
In spite of the economic situation, Kilkenny remains a generous county. And Mr Heffernan urges people in need to come forward – regardless of whether they feel there are others in situations of greater need.
“The money is coming from every facet of society – from young, old, even poor people themselves – they always feel there is someone worse off. Irish people, particularly Kilkenny people are great in that respect,” he says.
“We would ask people to come forward, so that we can share the resources we have with them. It will be done in confidence.”
St Vincent de Paul will hold a Christmas fundraiser at the Town Hall next Thursday from 3pm, with live music and street collections. There will also be a charity run in Gowran on Christmas morning after mass.
