Dream ends as new poor look to SVP for help

CELTIC Tiger Ireland spawned a new class.

They were affluent young workers — confident, carefree and with all the perks to boot. The flash car, second home, exotic foreign holidays. It was a dream come true, but one that has now come crashing down with a bang.

And now those very people, according to St Vincent de Paul (SVP) which engages with them on a daily basis, are becoming the new poor.

Ellmarie Spillane-Dowd, president of the Cork city conference of the charity said she is “flabbergasted” by the addresses of people now seeking assistance in increasing numbers.

In the first three days of this month alone, the Cork city branch of the society received 150 calls for help.

And although the problems are varied, they all stem back to one thing — job loss — which the charity says is the greatest concern people are faced with.

“People are saying to me that this time last year they were donators, now they are coming looking for help and we are hearing these stories all the time,” said Ms Spillane-Dowd.

“I had an hysterical woman on the phone. Her husband is a sub-contractor with no redundancy package and was let go.

“They had been dipping into savings to get by, but they were now down to €50, with bills of €800 and €700 to be paid in rent and fuel, and two small children. That is the reality.”

Ms Spillane-Dowd said while the organisation could not promise to find a solution to the family’s financial situation, she could give her a reassurance that, no matter what, there would be Santa.

“I told her that the kids would have Santa and, after that, we could work on the other stuff. By the end of the call she was at least feeling like there was hope and help out there.”

Along with providing a friendly ear and direct support to people in need, the SVP has become a go-between of sorts, negotiating with state agencies on people’s behalf, helping to prepare a plan as to how they should move forward with their debts.

The worst thing to do, they say, is to ignore the bills that are piling up. Making contact with creditors and working towards a resolution is the only way.

“We refer people to MABS and community welfare officers, and have built up relationships with state agencies such as Bord Gáis and the ESB with a view to negotiating a way out of their debt.

“Often, it is possible to take away cut-off and reconnection fees and work out a way for people to pay back arrears over a period of time,” she said.

“Many social houses have had gas installed and people are not used to this. They leave it on all the time and then get huge bills they cannot pay. Bord Gáis have a team who are specifically dedicated to turning people on and of, but they have a great credit controller and recognised the need to come on board to work with us and cut people some slack.”

Regional president of the society Brendan Dempsey said in all his years with the charity, he had never seen anything like what is happening at present.

“The human tragedy behind all the statistics and figures was very sad.

“We have never seen anything like this. I was with a woman whose husband lost her job and left. She was in the house with her two children and had nothing in the house to eat. They were starving. “We immediately went to the shop and bought food her. I have not seen anything like that since the 1980s.

“She won’t be able to keep her home,” he added.

Mr Dempsey maintains the people affected now had — through no fault of their own — bitten off more than they could chew.

“It is hitting those in their mid-thirties — the well-established people with two holidays a year, cars, all of a sudden their comfortable lifestyle is gone.”

Mortgage payments, bills, creche and school fees are piling up, he said. Then something happens — like a lost job — and it has a knock-on effect and causes families to go into crisis.

“They don’t have the money and don’t know where to go.”

Concern now is mounting for the society on a nationwide basis as fears over funding and what the new year will bring.

“During the good years we built up funds for extras like holiday camps for disadvantaged kids, college funds, psychological assessments and gaps in the system that the state can’t fill. But now, this is our bread and butter money and we no longer have the luxury to afford the extras.”