Irish Examiner view: Recognition for volunteers in our communities
One in seven people in Ireland take part regularly in voluntary work, with sporting organisations benefitting from a surge in volunteers in recent years. They saw a 50% increase in people stepping forward compared to a 13% fall experienced by religious or church groups. File picture: iStock/DragonImages
It was the AA travel breakdown and insurance organisation which used to position itself in advertising campaigns as “the fourth emergency service”.
That was some two decades ago, and the AA has moved on. But what is true now, as it was then, is that there is another emergency service which is unsung and often taken for granted.
Without it, society would either crumble, or the tax take from citizens would become immeasurably higher.
We refer, of course, to the army of Irish volunteers whose importance, and impact was underlined once again with the publication of an in-depth report from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) based on data drawn from the 2022 Census — the first time for 16 years that specific questions were asked on volunteering.
This showed that one in seven people in Ireland take part regularly in voluntary work, with sporting organisations benefitting from a surge in volunteers in recent years. They saw a 50% increase in people stepping forward compared to a 13% fall experienced by religious or church groups.
There was supporting evidence for the assertion that living in cities generates less community feeling and neighbourliness. The highest rate of volunteering in a county was found in Leitrim, with 18% of its population helping out. This compared to 11% in Dublin City. In Co Cork, the rate of volunteering was 16% compared to 12% in the city.
It’s notable that there has been a strong and welcome uptake of volunteer activity from new arrivals with 11% of non-Irish citizens participating compared to 15% of Irish citizens.
While the merits of being seen to help out cannot be understated for their contribution in demonstrating mutual bonds and commitment it can be a win-win for migrants when they become active members of their new community. It is much more difficult to represent people as “other” when they make friends, develop their use of language, and influence local networks.
The average age profile of volunteers, at 47, is nearly 10 years older than the general population and rates rise in families. In more than one in five families with children, at least one family member is involved in a voluntary activity.
While it was the pandemic which ushered in the popular practice of working from home, society has received a benefit from the law of unexpected consequences.
The CSO data suggests that just under a quarter of those who work from home at least one day per week took part in volunteering, adding some 182,072 people to the ranks of the unpaid task force.
While more and more old people are looking after relatives it would be a mistake to believe that this responsibility falls wholly on their shoulders. Nearly 4,800 children are carrying out such duties for a population in which 1.1m people say they experience a long-lasting condition or difficulty.
One of the consequences of the cost-of-living crisis is that charities in Ireland have seen the value of donations fall, with one report suggesting it could be by as much as 16%.
In a few weeks, we will be voting on whether to amend the Constitution to remove its reference to the place of women in the home and replace it with a recognition of care and an expanded definition of family.
In an overstretched society we need more people helping. Governments, of whichever hue, will need to recognise the concept of care in modern living, and ensure that our tax and benefits system is capable of supporting and maintaining future realities.
And thoughts will have been with her family and close friends again yesterday after the two people
responsible, Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, both 16, were sentenced to 22 years and 20 years in prison, respectively.
Unusually in such cases the judge, Mrs Justice Yip, lifted reporting restrictions allowing the killers, who stabbed their victim 28 times, to be named. Video of the sentencing was released, as was police footage of the moments that the defendants were arrested.
Cheshire police said they did not believe the murder was motivated by transphobia, while the judge said it was a secondary motive. Jenkinson, she added, was driven by a “deep desire to kill”.
Brianna was described as an “out and proud” trans girl with a large TikTok following. And whatever the grim modern details of the case (Jenkinson downloaded a special browser on her phone to watch “real” murders and torture on the dark web) it is a reminder that the heated rhetoric and cultural conflict needs to be taken away from the issue of gender reassignment.
A writer in the New York Times this week lamented that what was essentially an individual medical and psychological matter had become a general political argument with a polarity of opinions.
To a limited extent we can see that with the hubbub over a lay guest speaker at a school Mass at St Joseph’s Parish Church in Wilton, Cork, who railed against homosexuality, “gender benders”, Ireland’s choice of Bambie Thug for the Eurovision Song Contest, and the impact of divorce upon society.
A very, very, small section of the population identify as trans. It is time for all sides to take a chill pill on this subject. There are far greater issues facing humankind today.
While some cheers can be given for the fact that Europe’s €50bn aid package for Ukraine has finally got over the line, there is a bigger financial question to be pondered.
It is this: Why, after nearly two years of economic sanctions by the West, is the Russian economy doing as well as it is? And what does that mean for Ireland as a highly-active member of the European Union, if not of Nato?
This week the International Monetary Fund (IMF) upgraded Russia’s growth prospects by more than any other major advanced and emerging economy. After a previous forecast of 1.1%, it is now
predicting an increase of double that size, to 2.6% in 2024. Other nations, the UK, Germany, Spain, and France, are going south.
Vladimir Putin was able to boast about his country’s resilience in comparison to Europe. “We have growth, and they have decline... they all have problems through the roof, not even comparable to our problems,” he said.
When sanctions were introduced following Putin’s illegal invasion two years ago, some experts were sceptical that they would have an impact.
The French professor and author Thomas Piketty, who has established himself as the thinking person’s economist in recent times, was among those who were unimpressed.
He said at the time: “Everything we are claiming about sanctions and oligarchs is close to wishful thinking. It would require a movement
towards transparency about asset management, which is not happening.” While much of the justification for the growth projections is because of massively increased military expenditure sanctioned by the Kremlin, there are other significant factors to explain why the West’s actions have had limited impact.
Despite a per-barrel limit on Russian petrol prices, Moscow has been able to skip around the restrictions with relative ease. The sale of cheap oil to India and China now accounts for around 90% of Russia’s oil exports. The Kremlin earned nearly €12bn in December from overseas sales.
Strangely, Russian tankers and Chinese container vessels bound for Black Sea ports have escaped the attentions of the Houthi rocket aimers as they pass along the Red Sea. Western ships have diverted around the Cape.
While Putin’s “ghost ships” are owned in locations such as Dubai and Hong Kong, their insurance cover is provided much closer to Ireland.
A detailed investigation in the magazine concluded that since sanctions were introduced, UK-based insurers have covered more than €120bn in Russian oil and gas products.
The investigation concludes that the UK has become the world’s “biggest insurer of shipborne Russian oil”.
It’s not illegal. It’s business. But it’s another reason why Putin can play the waiting game and why we cannot place much faith in economic sanctions.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
