Gareth O'Callaghan: We're all in this together? Tell that to those living in absolute misery

We like to believe that Victorian poverty and the shocking history of our own beggarly past are behind us. Far from it

Charlie Chaplin sitting forlornly at the bottom of the steps in a scene from the film 'City Lights'. When we think of the poor, many of us are reminded of Charlie Chaplin and Charles Dickens, and those childhood memories of two memorable characters who found themselves destitute. Picture: Getty Images

On a cold Friday night back in March 2020, Ryan Tubridy stood in an empty television studio facing the cameras, and in a solemn and concerned voice he uttered the words: “We’re all in this together”.

His words that night had a certain ring of empathy to them, mixed with a sudden call to solidarity. If he had been pleading with viewers to join the army, the queues the following morning would have been longer than they were for Oasis tickets.