One in four adults are unable to read basic data

ONE out of every four Irish adults are unable to read drug prescriptions, menus or work documents, with more than 10,000 people contacting support groups with their concerns since the start of 2008.

Speaking after the Irish launch of The Big Read international campaign — which highlighted how a massive 774 million people worldwide, including 75 million children, are trapped in a lifetime of poverty because they cannot read or write — campaigners warned that thousands of people in this country suffer from the same crisis.

According to National Adult Literacy Association (NALA) spokesperson Claire McNally, since a joint campaign by the group and An Post at the start of last year, more than 10,000 adults nationwide have contacted the NALA help line in an attempt to overcome their difficulties.