Poverty (61)

I think this cold weather brings the reality of it- like you said- not having sky tv,( to watch on your 60'' tv!) does not count as poverty- having to choose between food and keeping warm in this weather, is one sign of real poverty for those that are facing it

There are support groups and resources available to people however these are usually short term and also you must consider not everyone will have the mind frame or capabilities to seek such help there are many out there in this situation Ireland included.. many of us are looking enough to have family/friends that may be able to help in time in need but not always

Do you know difficult it is to do basic stuff such as open a bank account without a so called permanent address or ID, creating problems seeking employment, social benefits etc

You know we struggled so much to help my uncle who need medical care & equipment when we looked to help him we faced huge problems as he couldn't communicate probarly! As a young man suffered from polio who became a crippled shy so throughout his life had little interaction with anyone other then his family, the difficulties we faced as a family to help him as we effectively communicated for him as he'd be running for the fields if anyone came by! and the fact that he didn't speak any English so in Hospital we had to stay with him as he was so shy he couldn't communicate due to language barrier not everyone can say they have a family that could do this for them he was lucky not everyone is, I just can't imgaine what his life would be like if he didn't have us

You must consider circumstances and much more of this happens in Ireland then we think!! We do support each other but as I said from previous post where I gave an example to someone that certainly would have starved to death only for he was lucky enough to have his family... look closer to home it actually happens many suffer with or without resources sometimes those resources/help doesn't make its way to all ok the numbers are less but it happens

But in Africa, they all have their families too.. But no resources.. Here your family provided for your uncle with the resources available.. Now if ye lived in Zambia would ye be able to cope the same way?

Were blessed in this country... Even in the worst economic state ever in the country, people are still getting over 200 a week for nothing..

not quite sure what you are saying here,but sadly( and, again sadly, in the light of recent reports that you should be careful what you say online , I won't go into detail, as I want to keep my own job), sometimes, having a caring family 'nearby' can go against you and limit the services available to you

theres allways glitches in the system but it happens very rarely
unfortunately someone like yer uncle would probably be deceased now
in many countries there is no social welfare and certainly maybe only 10 at most as good as ireland
people are dieing by the millions around the world of poverty and even thirst
tens of millions in africa have hiv or malaria
we have a very high standard of living here and unfortunately mostpeopleidea of poverty here is having to cancel their sky sports package
anyone who wants housing and is homeless can get housed by the council in ireland
the poverty in india and china and vast areas of asia ,south america and africa is startling
obviously yer uncle is an exceptional case but your family had the resources to help him
many abroad dont

i dont understand that

I do waffle

suppose point is it that people face poverty through lack of knowledge or capabilities to seek help from the system so very likely face poverty even in Ireland (those that obviusoly don't have support from family)

its all relative of course
you only wanted the best for ye runcle which is commendable
we are so used to having many luxuries in this country compared to other parts of the world i suppose

ya very true!! sadly he passed away a couple years ago but I did often wonder how would he have coped without us as he would never have been able to seek the support he needed!