Dublin South West TD, Seán Crowe, has extended his best wishes to the Society of St Vincent De Paul that was founded 170 years ago today. Crowe described its charitable work in dealing with poverty and deprivation as ‘life changing.’

Deputy Seán Crowe said;

“The St Vincent De Paul organisation has been supporting individuals and families for the last 170 years.

“They have helped fill in the financial gap and acted as a safety net for countless people over the years and rightly deserve our continued praise and support.

“Approximately 1200 conferences or chapters operate throughout Ireland in bad times and in good.

“Their Volunteers are well known in many communities and their quiet private visits to homes have often made the difference between someone, an individual or a family, from going hungry, having some heat in the home, every year meet mounting back to education costs, or even helping in the burying or the expense of attending the burial of a loved one.

“The St Vincent De Paul have faced growing demands on their budget over the last austerity years but demand has been particularly bad over the last 12 months.

“I wish them every success in the future with their life changing work and with Christmas around the corner, their heavy workload and commitment will again be put to the test.

“Hopefully their birthday wish of seeing an end to poverty and deprivation will be achieved in next few years and that the many small or generous donations continue to come from a grateful Irish public.”

ENDS