Family Support

The Donegal Food Equality Forum believes there should be a national fund to help groups with food poverty. In collaboration with the 21 members of the Donegal Food Response Network (DFRN), they are preparing to send a delegation to Dáil Éireann to highlight the issue.

The ever-increasing cost of living saw calls for support from Donegal Food Response Network (DFRN) jump by 17% between 2022 and 2023. The network is currently supporting over 650 families across the county.

"We're building very good practices", says Cavan Cultural Champion. The project has already spread from Monaghan to Cavan. It is backed by two local development companies and Tusla.

“Pay and conditions are so poor compared to Primary School Teachers or SNAs," an early years childcare worker tell us. Katie Barr reports:

Hosting refugees from Ukraine is easier than you think, but it is more likely to be successful if you take advice first. And if you wish to be matched with a suitable person, it can happen quickly, as organisations such as Doras now provide a matching service.

‘Changing Ireland’ has followed a Kildare family over the weeks and now months as they have taken in refugees. A few others in the area have done likewise, but Matt – a dairy farmer in his early 50s – was the first to move and the first to take in refugees in his locality. He acknowledges other hosts might need cash, but said: “It would change it. That’s not why we are doing this.”

Cape Clear Island is ready to host refugees this year. The Gaeltacht community on the southernmost inhabited point of Ireland has raised funds and established language connections in anticipation of welcoming a Syrian refugee family in the near future.

The family court system needs urgent reform, says Mary Louise Lynch who founded a group for survivors of domestic violence, Survivors Informing Services and Institutions (SISI).