Groups unite for UN anti-poverty day
Politicians, schoolchildren, religious and community groups will come together today for a major ceremony to mark the United Nations Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
Organised by the 17th October Coalition, which is made up of Irish anti-poverty groups, it will be held at the Famine Memorial on Dublin’s Custom House Quay.
The focus of the event will be on people directly experiencing poverty.
A number of speakers will share their experiences, including a young couple struggling to raise their family on a council housing estate and representatives from a Travellers’ Outreach Health Programme in Co Wicklow.
Sixth-class boys from St. Laurence O’Toole National School on the North Wall will bring along life-sized, cut-out silhouettes, which they have made themselves and which illustrate their hopes for the eradication of poverty.
Environment Minister John Gormley will attend, along with the UNHCR’s representative in Ireland Manuel Jordao and Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin Anne Carter.
Members of the Oireachtas, community and religious groups will also be present.
The event will begin at 11.30am.
