New national president for Society of St Vincent de Paul

The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) has appointed Kieran Stafford as its new national president.

Mr Stafford (53) from Clonmel, Co Tipperary, is a local businessman and father of two who has been a volunteer with SVP for the past 16 years.

During that time he has been vice-president, a national trustee and a regional president.

He succeeds Geoff Meagher from Co Kilkenny who was SVP national president for the past five years.

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In keeping with the tradition of previous SVP national presidents, Mr Stafford will also remain active in his local SVP Conference in Clonmel.

“It is important to work in the community to have a solid understanding of the issues that impact on the people helped by SVP,” he said.

Struggling

“Despite the welcome economic improvements of recent times, we remain an unequal nation. SVP continues to receive an unacceptable level of calls for support from families struggling to find affordable secure accommodation, employment opportunities that provide an adequate income, along with support for meeting education, health, energy and childcare costs,” Mr Stafford said.

In 2016 SVP received 130,000 calls for assistance and its 11,000 members made approximately 8,000 home visits per week.

Mr Stafford said the SVP is committed to identifying the root causes of poverty and social exclusion in Ireland.

“The current challenges in relation to homelessness, child poverty and educational disadvantage, mean working for social justice is as important today as it was when the Society was established in 1844.”

“Informed by the work of our volunteers, we will continue to work with government and policy makers to ensure that everyone has a good standard of living and the opportunity to reach their full potential,” he said.