Dublin poverty comparable to a century ago, says Capuchin friar

A Capuchin friar famed for his work with Dublin’s homeless and vulnerable has warned that poverty levels in the capital are comparable to those of 1916, according to The Irish Catholic.

Br Kevin Crowley has described the situation for the poor in Dublin as “a disaster.”

“In 1916 we had poverty,” he said, “and we still have it, and it is getting worse.”

He went on to reveal that, just before speaking to the paper, he had overseen the supply of dinners to 562 people.

“We need to get people, families, off the streets now,” he stressed and lamented the continuing lack of affordable houses as a root of the problem. “We can’t keep sending people to hotel rooms.”

Br Kevin described as “pathetic” the everyday reality of “watching little kids leaving here to go to hotels where they can’t reheat the takeaway dinners we offer.”

In addition to the high numbers seeking hot dinners daily at the Capuchin Day Centre, Br Kevin revealed that the centre continues to offer hundreds of hot breakfasts each morning in addition to nearly 1700 food parcels weekly.

The figure of food parcels, Br Kevin pointed out, is a massive surge on the high of 400 given out weekly at the height of Ireland’s recession.

“It’s appalling that so many are coming in 2016,” he said, adding that the centre is now stretched by demand even more than when it opened in 1969.