Underbelly of 26 Counties Exposed

national | miscellaneous | press release Saturday June 10, 2006 02:57 by RSYM info at rsym dot org 392 Falls Road, Belfast 12, Ireland.

Republican Socialist Youth Movement respond to figures from the Combat Poverty Agency.

‘Underbelly of 26 Counties Exposed’ - 10/06/2006
Republican Socialist Youth Movement – www.rsym.org

The figures recently released by the Combat Poverty Agency in the 26 counties make worrying reading but are not at all surprising to those that have been watching the economic fallout unfold in working class communities on the back of the Celtic Tiger economic boom over recent years.

The underbelly of the state has been exposed, we see it clearer now than ever before. While the media heralds these times as times of opportunity and investment, it is clear to us that working class estates and inner city areas have been long forgotten about by the Leinster House politicians.

While the inner city is overshadowed by the heightening Dublin skyline, there are severe social and economic problems that are ignored. Through poor state social planning, there is a considerable lack of facilities for young people which could prevent them from getting involved in crime and anti-social behavior.

Between 1996 and 2004, the state seized 6,919,780 Euro in criminal assets. The state should be made accountable as to why this desperately needed money is not channeled back into the working class communities to whom it should rightfully belong.