This article is from page 13 of the 2014-12-16 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
of almost € 30,000 from the annual court poor box payout.
A total of € 28, 500 will be distributed to 23 groups and organisations, after details of this year’s recipients were released by the Court Services.
In some cases, instead of imposing a conviction, a district court judge can order that a defendant donate a sum to the court poor box, which in turn will be given to a charity.
The St Vincent De Paul is this year’s largest recipient.
The society’s branches in Ennis and Kilrush will each received a donation of € 5,000.
John Cullinane, Clare Area President SVP, welcomed the donation, saying the poor box has become an “essential” source of funding for the SVP.
“There is a big demand each year on our services. In the past three years, requests for our assistance have doubled, its gone up 100%. Our income is down about 25% in the past year. We are very grateful for funds from any source.
“We’re very grateful to Judge Patrick Durcan (District Court Judge for Clare and Gort, Co Galway). Over the years he has given us considera- ble funding each year and it’s something we are grateful for”, he said.
Mr Cullinane continued, “We give out a lot more food and toys at this time of year, additional to what we would normally give.
“People donate a lot of food to us and we will be giving that out over the next few weeks. It’s a busy season”.
Mr Cullinane said the society is also receiving more requests for assistance from people in employment.
“About 70% of our requests are repeats. Over the years, there would be a lot of the same people.
“In the past years, with the austerity measures, some people that are employed, because their salaries and wages have gone down, they are coming to us for assistance as well. That would have increased the demand on our service as well. But we’re in a position to cope with all requests”, he said.
The full list of court poor box recipients is as follows.
Clare Immigrant Support Centre (€ 500); St Senan’s Kilrush Conference of SVDP (€ 5000); St Vincent de Paul Ennis (€ 5000); District Day Care Centre, Clarecastle (€ 500); Hand in Hand (Childrens Cancer Charity) (€ 1000); Diabetes Ireland Clare Branch (€ 1000); Ennis CDP (€ 1500); Dream Believe Achieve (€ 1000); Lions Club of Ennis (€ 1500); Rape Crisis Midwest Clare Centre (€ 1000) ; Seeking Vision (€ 500); Clare Crusaders (€ 1000); Cahercalla Hospice (€ 1000); Poor Clares, Ennis (€ 1000); The Samaritans, Ennis (€ 1000); Clarecare (€ 1000); Clare Haven Services (€ 1000); Pieta House (€ 1000); Childline (€ 1000); Doolin Search & Rescue (€ 500); Kilkee Marine Rescue (€ 500); Killaloe/Ballina Search and Rescue (€ 500); St. Caimins Search & Rescue, Mountshannon (€ 500).