Let’s face the real issue in our divided society

THE most depressing thing the annual UN human development report tells us is not that, yet again, Ireland is the second richest country in the EU and that it still has the highest poverty rate. We know this from other studies.

The depressing thing is the kneejerk response by Government to argue the toss over methodology and avoid the main message. Our members working on the ground don’t need statistics to tell them that poverty in the Celtic Tiger hasn’t gone away, but is growing.

Ireland, in many ways, has led the way in the EU in devising strategies to combat poverty, from the late Frank Cluskey’s initiation of the first European poverty programme 30 years ago to the current Government’s promotion of social inclusion in the draft EU constitution, to say nothing of our innovative national anti-poverty strategy.