Emigration still pressing problem, conference told

Emigration remains a pressing social problem despite claims it has ceased, the annual meeting of the National Conference of Priests of Ireland has been told. Father Paul Byrne attacked the "myth" that emigration "like TB" had been conquered. "Net emigration has stopped, but we still have 33,000 people leaving the country each year, many of them very vulnerable."

Father Byrne, who is a member of the Episcopal Commission on Emigrants, said there were numerous reports of Irish people ending up homeless in London and New York. "There are about one million Irish people abroad. Many of these are doing very well, but others are still living in cardboard cities."

Yet it was becoming increasingly difficult to find chaplains willing to go abroad. The response of many priests was that the emigration problem was over, Father Byrne said.

This year's conference is focusing on the possibility of setting up a representative assembly of the Catholic Church.

Representatives of a variety of groups normally outside the church were invited to address yesterday's session.

Mr Noel Larkin of the Merchants Quay HIV project said he was dealing with an increasing number of child-addicts. Children as young as 13, both boys and girls, were turning to prostitution to feed their habit.

Mr Larkin said while alcohol was socially acceptable, users of opiates were treated as "devil worshippers" and pushed to the margins of society. Their lives were spent in frustration at the lack of detoxification facilities, yet the failure rate of these programmes was as high as 95 per cent.

Ms Annette Kinahan, of Focus Point, told of her experience of being homeless after her husband died in London. "My dignity was crumpled, I lost all my self-respect. Everywhere I went, blame was attached to me for my state. I went from being a mild-mannered person to someone who swore all the time."