Doing the right thing

EDITORIAL
THE death of a homeless man in a County Clare alleyway at the weekend raises questions, not just about how we address homelessness but how we, the public, try to help those less fortunate than ourselves.

 

Long before his face featured in the pages of national newspapers, Josef Pavelka was well known around Ennis. The 52-year-old Czech man had been living in the area for six years, having moved here at the end of the country’s building boom.

While many involved in construction fell on hard times in the intervening years, Mr Pavelka fell to his death. An alcoholic, he regularly appeared in the district court on charges of public intoxication. He became homeless and recently made national headlines for living in a public toilet with his friend.

Mr Pavelka was found dead in a laneway on Saturday night. The cause of death has not been released but it is not being treated as suspicious. Councillors here say he was “killed with kindness”, as people gave money more generously after hearing of his plight. His means increased and so did his drinking.

Mr Pavelka’s death is sad. It is sad for his family. It is sad for his friends. It is also sad for the wider community, which must now examine how our system, and we as individuals, attempt to address homelessness and inequality.

Everyone wants to help. It is a noble intention, one to be lauded. None of us want to see people living on our streets, soaked to the skin with their back against a door. But is handing money to a homeless person with a chronic addiction the right thing to do? Or is it the quick thing to do?

Some people argue against giving money to Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) or large charities, saying they aren’t transparent, asking whether the money really gets to the people who most need it? Some don’t want to give because they don’t want their money spent on administration.

But do these concerns really stack up? Reputable charities publish detailed accounts, which allow curious donors the opportunity to see financial reports outlining how their money is spent. Many have a designated administration budget. Is it better to see money spent on the administration of worthwhile projects or to see it potentially spent on alcohol, cigarettes or drugs, for example, which often rank higher on the hierarchy of an addict’s own perceived needs.

St Vincent de Paul and Focus Ireland are both long-established and well-respected charities with a wealth of experience in easing personal poverty and preventing people from becoming, remaining or returning to homelessness, in the case of Focus Ireland, through the provision of quality services, supported housing research and advocacy.

Following Mr Pavelka’s death and, more importantly, his life in Ennis, we as a community are left to face the reality that we are failing the poorest and most vulnerable among us.

As a society, we have to ask ourselves how we can address the problem of homelessness or, better yet, prevent it.

We, as individuals, must ask ourselves not just are we doing something to help homeless people but also are we doing the right thing to help them?

Is féidir linn
THE entrance gates to Sixmilebridge mart were firmly bolted back in the latter end of 2009. The then owners, Golden Vale Marts, had given up the ghost and were resigned to the fact that the mart was no longer a viable proposition.

In a major restructuring of its operation, the Sixmilebridge livestock mart was culled and the sound of the auctioneer’s gavel, which had resonated at the mart for the previous four decades, fell silent.

When news of the closure hit the public domain, it caused disquiet and a great deal of angst, particularly among the farming fraternity. It was also a blow to the local business community, who had benefited financially from the operation of the mart on its doorstep.

GVM’s argument at the time was that a fall-off in the throughput of livestock, which had hit the 7,000 mark, had sounded the death knell. While they had endeavoured to keep the mart trading, there came a time when that was no longer sustainable or feasible.

Cue a farmer-led consortium to enter the arena. They launched a major sweep of the neighbouring parishes to secure sufficient shareholding, 683 people forked out €500 per share, to put in a bid, thus paving a return to trading of the mart as a co-operative venture.

Thus commenced months of brokering, before eventually the mart switched hands. The buy-back was complete and control was vested in Sixmilebridge Co-Operative Mart. It returned to a similar type management structure as was the case when it first opening for trading in 1973.

A management committee was put in place and trading recommenced. However, it wasn’t that simple. The mart had to be supported if it was to return a profit and while there was a surge initially, good cattle prices resulted in that support remaining constant.

Last week the annual general meeting heard that in the last fiscal year, throughput of livestock had more than doubled to hit a magical figure of 15,000, yielding a pre-tax profit of €101,981 or a profit of €86,626 after tax. Not a bad return for a mart that was labelled a loss-making enterprise.

Sociologist and Sixmilebridge parish priest, Fr Harry Bohan, who was a key negotiator in the acquisition, said the spirit that underpinned the reopening of the mart served to highlight what people together can achieve.
A pioneer and great believer in community-led development, Fr Bohan said, “It’s about people taking responsibility to make things happen. We have become very dependant in Ireland on others doing things for us. For the most part, we’ve handed over responsibility to these people to provide the jobs and many of the services vital to the vibrancy of communities.

“We have been talking of crisis now for a few years. The dominant mood is negative, rather than creative and constructive. We are saturated in negativity and cynicism but what we must have is the vision, the spirit and the energy to take responsibility for our future.”

That is what has happened in Sixmilebridge. They’ve embraced the ‘is féidir linn’ concept and made it work.