EUR
STG
Dublin Saturday 23rd August.
Social Justice must be at the centre of a nation, which cares for all of its people says the National Management Council of the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP).
At its meeting today the Council announced its contribution to the Ethics Initiative of President Michael D. Higgins with a forum in Dublin on 22 September next.
President Higgins will formally open the half-day forum.
On 22 September SVP will outline a proposal to initiate dialogue in 2015 with a wide range of social, economic, education, culture, spiritual and NGO groupings with a view to finding a shared vision for Irish society into the future.
SVP National President, Geoff Meagher said, “Social Justice must be at the centre of a nation which cares for all of its people equally. That has been largely ignored in recent years while political and economic issues have been concentrated on.
“Now is the time to discuss what matters most to us as a nation – its people and the situation in which they live, work or, in too many cases, try to exist without work. It is generally accepted that we lost something as a nation during the Celtic Tiger years. Now is the time to discuss the changes needed and to prepare for when the nation emerges from this difficult period. There are no easy answers, but that is no reason not to commence the debate.”
Also at the forum, which will be held in the Davenport Hotel, Dublin, SVP will launch an exploratory research study with one-parent families it is assisting. Entitled “It’s the hardest job in the world”: this study continues a core focus of SVP since it was founded in Ireland in 1844 to examine the causes of poverty and exclusion.
