The Society of St Vincent de Paul is marking its 175th anniversary in Ireland today.

Parents are going without food so they can pay money lenders to cover Santa presents, according to St Vincent de Paul.

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

Dublin has benefited most from upturn, says report from Pobal Towns with 1,000 to 5,000 population have been worst affected

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.

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

“I AM hollow inside. If you could tap my tummy it would be like a bodhrán,” actress Gerry McLoughlin says gaily of her post-cancer body.

A GROUP of students are using flower power to impress the judges in an international technology competition by driving to the contest in Paris in a car fuelled by sunflower oil.

ENDLESS driving around looking for an empty street parking space could become a thing of the past thanks to technology developed by researchers in Sligo.