Head of Social Justice at SVP, Dr Tricia Kielty, said a lot of people are going to be in vulnerable situations in the coming weeks.

Cork-based business innovation work and events space Republic of Work has given third level students access to its facilities in exchange for a donation to St Vincent de Paul.

More than 140,000 children are living in substandard and poor-quality homes, with thousands more already languishing in emergency accommodation.

On Saturday, December 21, 20c from every newspaper sold will be donated to SVP.

The Society of St Vincent de Paul received between 250 to 300 calls from worried parents per day last week.

SVP estimates that there are 330,000 customers of moneylenders in Ireland.

Threshold CEO John-Mark McCafferty told RTE Radio’s Today with Sean O’Rourke show that while HAP is intended to help families secure a place to live, the reality is that HAP limits are insufficient to secure private rental accommodation.

It is only a matter of weeks before churchyards around Ireland will be filled with adorable children in white dresses or suits. With First Holy Communion season just around the corner, and many parents are facing a hectic period of planning, writes Gráinne McGuinness.

It is claimed the spiralling cost of transition year is leaving some parents in financial difficulties.

A leading charity is predicting that poverty levels will get worse this year, despite the economic recovery.

People are “falling over” themselves to help St Vincent de Paul which is set to feed 2,500 families in Cork this Christmas.

A charity is poised to distribute Christmas food hampers to some 2,500 needy families across Cork city and county this festive season.

The Society of St Vincent De Paul in Dublin is appealing for help after one of its stores was destroyed in a fire.

Families under financial strain are being forced to choose between school books and paying the rent.

Families are cutting back on food and heating to pay for their children’s back-to-school costs, according to the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP).

Employees at St Vincent de Paul charity shops in Cork have balloted for industrial action.

Up to 130,000 households who turned to SVP for help last year were paying back loans to moneylenders with interest rates of up to 168%.

ONE of the noble but Sisyphean tasks the heroic among us undertake is breaking the cycle of poverty. Various agencies are dedicated to this high ideal, one determined to celebrate our humanity by sharing life-changing opportunity with all.

Rising rents and living costs are pushing people to the brink, according to St Vincent de Paul. And we are living in an increasingly “unequal nation” where the most vulnerable are not benefitting from the recovery.

Update 1.55pm: The head of the largest union for secondary teachers says the Education Minister’s plan to reduce school costs for parents, is tinkering at the edges.

The union which represents the country’s community welfare officers has criticised a 60% drop in the amount paid out by the State in exceptional needs payments to those in financial difficulty.

Potato growers from across Cork have united to support the Cork branch of the St Vincent de Paul for Christmas.

The Society of St Vincent dePaul expects to receive more than 50,000 calls for help in the coming weeks.

The St Vincent de Paul has moved to ease fears over possible industrial action at some of its Cork stores in a row over management restructuring.

More than 6,000 people are homeless across Ireland.

The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) has been deprived of around €1m in funding after eastern European gangs raided the charity’s secondhand clothing containers, writes Sean O’Riordan.

IT IS six weeks until schools reopen, but parents are already bracing themselves for the expense, writes Gráinne McGuinness

An over-reliance on rent supplement and housing assistance payments to low-income families is not a lasting solution to the housing and homelessness crisis, the St Vincent De Paul (SVP) has said.

The Society of St Vincent de Paul is spending €2,000 a month disposing of rubbish dumped in its clothing donation bins — including the remains of dead animals.

The Lord Mayor of Cork will host a major fundraising concert next month to help the city’s homeless.