Pope Francis’ visit to the Homeless

Posted on 20. Sep, 2018 in Charity, Church Teachings, Economy, Fundraising, Pope Francis, Poverty, Refugees, Young people

When Pope Francis was in Ireland, he visited many state dignitaries and leaders. However Fr. Bryan Shortall, a parish priest and Capuchin, says that was inspires Francis most is visiting people on the margin. When he was in Ireland he came to visit the Capuchin Day Care Centre in Dublin. Fr Bryan says that their […]

Helping Working Parents

Posted on 13. Sep, 2018 in Christian Values, Church Teachings, Community, Economy

A recent report by the ESRI showed that the cost of childcare is driving women out of the workforce with the cost of one child amounting to 20% of disposable income. Any added benefit from doing extra work is more than off set by the high cost of having to pay for childcare. Miriam Gormally […]

Catholic Economics

Posted on 31. May, 2018 in Christian Values, Economy, Faith and Justice

A recent document was brought out by the Church looking at the role of money and financial investments in society. Titled, ‘Oeconomicae et pecuniariae quaestiones: Considerations for an Ethical Discernment regarding Some Aspects of the Present Economic-Financial System’ it looked at the importance of money serving not ruling. The document goes on to say that profit […]

Bible Thoughts on Housing Crisis

Posted on 15. Feb, 2018 in Charity, Christian Values, Economy, Faith and Justice

Dr Kevin Hargaden from the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice has written a lenten retreat with a difference to make us consider homeless in the context of Christianity.  ‘Home Thoughts from the Bible in a Time of Housing Crisis” is seven week retreat for Lent exploring the theme of homelessness in the bible from […]

People left behind

Posted on 01. Feb, 2018 in Community, Economy, Faith and Justice, Gospel Values

The Irish Business and Employers Confederation – IBEC recently released a report showing that disposable incomes of Irish households are growing at four times the euro-zone average. However Social Justice Ireland responded with the fact that almost 800,000 people continue to live in poverty in Ireland and up to one million are experiencing deprivation – 105,000 of […]

Protecting Humanitarian Workers

Posted on 11. Jan, 2018 in Christian Values, Ecology, Economy, Humanitarian Aid

In Trócaire’s recent Christmas campaign, they highlighted how two humanitarian workers per day are killed. Miriam Gormally met with Eoghan Rice, head of Communication at Trócaire to find out why this work is so dangerous. He further highlighted that people who stand up for land and environment rights are the most targeted of all the […]

Care of the Earth

Posted on 11. Jan, 2018 in Christian Values, Ecology, Economy, Faith and Justice

Fr. Pedro Walpole SJ is the Director of Research at the Institute of Environmental Science for Social Change in the Philippines. He is passionately concerned about global warming, says that we are heading for a three degree rise in temperature, but that we need to keep it to a minimum of 1.5 degrees if we […]

The Hunger House

Posted on 09. Nov, 2017 in Book Reviews, Community, Death, Economy

Conor Mcguire – an artist and columnist for the Western People has written a book called the “Hunger House”.  Set in Ballina, Co. Mayo, just before the Great Famine in Ireland, the book looks at the lives of people in this less well known time in Ireland. Speaking with Pat Coyle, Conor argues that this […]

Rebuilding Ireland – doomed to fail

Posted on 19. Oct, 2017 in Christian Values, Community, Economy, Young people

In this two part housing special we take an in-depth look at some of the things that are moving Ireland in the direction of less home ownership and towards more precarious rental situations. In this first part, Margaret Burns, from the Jesuit Centre of Faith and Justice looks at how housing trends have changed dramatically […]

Rebuilding Ireland – doomed to fail P2

Posted on 19. Oct, 2017 in Christian Values, Community, Economy, Homelessness

In this second part of looking at rebuilding Ireland, Margaret looks at the Government action plan, Rebuilding Ireland. She says it is doomed to fail unless there is a fundamental change in ideology. She explores how a housing policy that is largely based on being serviced by the private sector will alway have investment and profit as […]