Graiguenamanagh and Thomastown branches to close
TWO BANK OF IRELAND branches in south Kilkenny are set to close.
The Graiguenamanagh and Thomastown branches are among the 103 across the island of Ireland that the bank announced on Monday would close in September. The banking institution said the closures were due to a massive decline in footfall at branches, amounting to around 75 per cent.
Urlingford and Callan branches are also closing as part of significant changes to Bank of Ireland’s branch network. Only Kilkenny City and Castlecomer branches will remain open when the changes come into effect.
The closures of 88 branches in the Republic and 15 in the North will take place from September.
WHILE there were lengthy discussions over the council’s approach to rough sleepers at last week’s special housing meeting, questions were also raised over what was being done to assist ‘sofa surfers’ who obtain shelter night to night relying on the generosity of friends and family.
Cllr Andrew Bolger pointed out that these people often aren’t regarded as ‘rough sleepers’ but are also in dire straits.
‘Early intervention is key,’ said Michelle Bridges Carley of the housing department. ‘While it may not be ideal, the sofa surfer has shelter. When people present to us as homeless, for many different reasons, and seek advice, sometimes they may have to remain in a sofa surfing situation. In the short term, we try to hold them in the property that they are in rather than have them out sleeping rough.
If people are issued with a notice to quit, our homeless supports kick in immediately. We ensure that their social housing application is in order and look at HAP. The problem there is that a lot of landlords look for a deposit and two months rent in advance, which is a lot of money.’
Cllr Jim Codd felt that ‘sofa surfers, and I hate that term, are not being deemed in need’.
‘It’s a very moveable thing,’ he said. ‘You could have a sofa to sleep on tonight, but find yourself with no shelter tomorrow night. I really think we need to start looking at crash beds.’
THE average income for a person living in Wexford is higher than at any point in the last decade. Figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that in 2018 a person living in Wexford had an average annual income of €25,683, a rise from the €24,382 earned by people in the county in 2017.
Indeed, you have to go back to 2008 (€27,625) to find a year when Wexford people earned more money on an annual basis.
Unsurprisingly, those living in the capital (€37,530) earned the most in 2018, while Kildare (€35,138), Limerick (€33,323), Meath (€31,940), Wicklow (€31,914), and Cork (€31,198) were next.
Although the national average was €30,753, from a regional perspective the average income in 2018 for the south-east counties was €26,596. Those living in Waterford earned €27,305, Kilkenny €27,052, and Carlow €26,769.
Of the €25,683 earned by people in Wexford €18,787 was considered to be disposable income, the highest it’s been since 2010 when the figure stood at €18,999.
The estimated disposable income for people in the county during 2019 is currently €19,328, which again would be the highest since the boom. Total household income is defined as primary income plus social transfers. Disposable household income is then this household income less taxes.
Dublin had the highest average disposable income per person in 2018. At €24,969 it was 17.4 per cent higher than the state average of €21,270.
Of the other regions in 2018, only the mid-east at €21,982 and the mid-west at €21,035 had an average disposable income per person on a par with the state average.
In the south-east the average disposable income was €19,150 an increase on 2017’s €18,602. The border region with €17,391 and the midland region with €17,389 were joint lowest in 2018 at 18.2 per cent below the state average of €21,270.
The gap between the maximum and minimum value of per capita disposable income, on a regional basis, increased from €6,430 in 2017 to €7,578 in 2018, due to Dublin regional incomes increasing by €1,348 (5.7 per cent) while those of the lowest region, Border, increased by only €199 (1.2 per cent).
Dublin continues to remain the only region with higher per capita disposable income than the state average during the entire 2009-2018 period while the border and west regions continue to earn significantly less than the state average. In contrast, the mid-west and the mideast regions showed incomes on a par with the state average during the same period.
AT county and district council meetings over the past few months, we’ve seen several motions tabled calling for an out-of-hours service to deal with homelessness and rough sleepers. So far they seem to have fallen on deaf ears as housing officials have stated that they conform to a Regional Homeless Services and Support Unit policy.
This subject was raised again by a number of councillors at last week’s housing meeting and the outgoing Head of Housing Niall McCabe reiterated that, despite the motions of the councillors, there were ‘no plans’ to introduce an out-of-hours service any time soon and that ‘we don’t have the resources for that’.
There was quite animated discussion on the events of previous weeks which saw confusion reign with temperatures plumetting and rough sleepers still seeking shelter. Eventually, St Joseph’s Community Centre was opened up with emergency beds placed inside.
Cllr Lisa McDonald suggested that the council department had ‘failed abysmally’ in dealing with the issue, while a number of the members criticised a lack of communication with members in relation to what was being done to cater for rough sleepers.
‘We can’t have the confusion we’ve had in recent weeks,’ Aontú councillor Jim Codd said. ‘ As an elected representative I was taking calls and I didn’t know that the council had rented St Joseph’s. I didn’t find out from the council officials either. I feel we need permanent emergency beds. I spoke to a GP who worked in the area of crash beds and he feels that we need what we had in St Joseph’s in an ongoing way.’
Cllr Tom Forde also criticised an ‘inability to communicate’ from the council’s housing department and also referenced a previous motion he put forward that had been unanimously passed.
‘ Two years ago, I asked that the council should use some of its stock as emergency accommodation,’ he said. ‘We shouldn’t be spending millions on providing emergency accommodation.’
This was a point also made by Cllr Codd, who noted: ‘We are giving €625,000 in grants to homeless bodies. Should we not be looking at something more permanent?’
Mr McCabe replied that there were ‘a number of issues’ with crash beds including finance and management and whatever Wexford County Council does would have to be under the South East Homeless Network.
‘St Joseph’s was done very quickly,’ he said, reflecting on the events of previous week. ‘It was a developing situation and I accept responsibility for not telling all of the members. It was a week in which a fire had gutted the accommodation from our other provider.’
Cllr McDonald brought forward a motion stating that the current protocol for dealing with rough sleepers is ‘not fit for purpose’ and that the housing department needed to ‘put in place a step by step protocol to house rough sleepers in incelement weather, not just severe weather warnings’.
Director of Services Carolyne Godkin said she had ‘no problem’ with the motion, but added that the council was finding it extremely difficult to source suitable emergency accommodation following a serious fire at The Foggy Dew B&B.
‘We need to flick the humanity switch,’ Cllr McDonald said. ‘ The system that was in place certainly didn’t work.’
The latest figures show that there’s been 86 calls to the Homeless Services and Support Unit in Wexford between January 1 and February 16. Of these, the council say 36 were dealt with by prevention, 19 were offered placement or placefinder support, 26 were ‘not eligible’ and six were unable to complete a full assessment.
TRADITIONALLY at this time of year, preparations are being made for children to take part in their First Holy Communion and Confirmations. However, with church doors remaining closed as we continue to navigate Level 5 Covid restrictions, along with hotels, catering companies, clothes shops etc, it seems everything is very much in limbo once again as we wait to hear what level of re-opening we can look forward to.
‘I suppose we’re in the same position as the hotels and other event organisers and that type of thing,’ Communications Officer for the Diocese of Ferns Fr John Carroll said. ‘We will just have to wait for clarity. It’s now starting to look like they’ll have to be put back. It seems to be later and later. I suppose we’ll seek further clarification in the middle of March and I’d imagine a lot will hinge on what happens with this new Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
In the meantime, we’re as in the dark as everyone else unfortunately. Maybe the sensible thing to do would be to catch our breath and give ourselves a little longer to get clear of this thing. However, as I said to someone the other day, between the daffodil and the strawberry, the clarity will come.’
A further update was issued to parishes last week, which stated: ‘With restrictions in place at present, no ceremony can take place. It is envisaged that ceremonies can really only be planned once the restrictions for schools and churches have been sufficiently lifted as to permit celebration.’
Also, it was revealed that priests will be the ministers of Confirmation in their own parishes, a role usually reserved for the Bishop, and all were asked to liaise with local schools to open discussions about how best to proceed when permissible.