Mortgage arrears - Distress lies behind figures
Statistics will tell you that there are in the region of 30,000 households in mortgage arrears in Ireland. They will also reveal that the number of family home mortgages in arrears of 720 days or more rose by over 50%, from 19,541 in 2012 to 29,509 this year.
What they will not show you is the pain and anguish suffered by the tens of thousands of people struggling with mortgage arrears. They go nowhere near exposing the strain and emotional and traumatic effects on families.
A new survey published today seeks to bridge that gap by looking at people’s personal experience of being in mortgage distress or at risk of losing their home.
The Community Action Network (CAN) conducted the survey and says that many people are still too embarrassed and ashamed to admit they are in difficulty.
Shame and guilt are destructive forces. It was shame that for generations hid the reality of clerical sexual abuse. It was shame that, until recent years, kept hidden the role played by more than 200,000 Irishmen in the First World War.
It was shame that led many gay people to stay in the closet. Now we have an out and proud Taoiseach.
What CAN has done is a good start. We need a pride march for people in mortgage arrears to show they are not alone and, above all, to show that shame and embarrassment need not dominate their lives and those of their families.
