On Thursday's Morning Focus, Gavin Grace was joined by Brid O'Brien of the Irish National Association of the Unemployed. It’s been reported that families are better off staying on the dole than going back to work when jobs become available, so what is the real situation facing those hoping to get back to the workforce, but not wanting to risk losing supports for accommodation and their kids?
The INOU say the ESRI report points out that 6 out of 7 unemployed people ARE better off in a job, though there are difficulties for a small number of welfare claimants in making the move back to work, particularly families in receipt of rent allowance.
Gavin was also joined in studio by Denise Dunne of the Clare Haven Services as New figures show 700 people sought help from domestic violence support services on just one day last year.
The "Just One Day" census was carried out by a network of support groups on the 24 hour period of Tuesday 5th November last.
467 women and 229 children were receiving help from domestic violence services participating in the survey, on that date.
If you are being domestically abused you can call the Clare Havens Helpline on 065 6822 435.
Gavin was also joined by Conor Breen of the Centre for Ageing Research & Development in Ireland. Two new reports reveal stark inequalities in wealth and income among older people in Ireland. The research finds that while older people possess significant wealth in terms of assets, large income differences exist between the richest and poorest older people and this gap is widening over time.
The reports launched by CARDI examine the issues of wealth and income inequalities across and within generations across the island of Ireland. The reports stress the need to address inequalities among older people and ensure that the poorest older people are protected against cuts to income. Conor spoke about the importance of saving in your younger years for a pension of it is possible.
Also on the programme was Aine Mae O'Mahony of the Lahinch Playground Project and Aiden O'Neill of Lifford AFC as the "Tide versus Pride" white collar boxing event in the Queens Hotel will take place this Saturday night from 6:30pm.
Proceeds go to the Lahinch Playground redevelopment fund and Lifford AFC.
Ailish Fitzpatrick is a recent optometry graduate from Knockerra and was also a guest on the programme. Ailish travelled to Mozambique in March to carry out an eye-care screening programme for almost 1,000 children and adults.
The trip was carried out by the Mozambique Eyecare Project (MEP). In just four days, Ailish and the rest of the MEP provided eye-care screening for 1000 Mozambicans and gave out more than 700 pairs of glasses. You can visit mozeycare.org for more information.
Also joining Gavin was Former Ireland soccer international Ronnie Whelan. The World Cup kicks off in Brazil tonight, Irish time, as the hosts take on Croatia. Former Ireland international Ronnie Whelan, who played in two World Cups for his country, previewed the event. Ronnie has tipped Argentina as eventual champions, while he also feels that Belgium will be dark horses.
John Underhill our resident vet was also in studio to answer some of your animal queries and this weeks topic of discussion was coughing in pets and in particular dogs where it is more prevalent in dogs than cats.
If you have a story, comment or query for Morning Focus email [email protected] or write to us – Morning Focus, Clare FM, Francis Street, Ennis, Co. Clare.
