The Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, Colm O’Reilly, has welcomed the opening of a soup kitchen in Athlone.
He told RTE’s Morning Ireland that in the present economic
conditions, the needs are great and pressure has grown on the Society of
St Vincent DePaul and others already providing services such as meals
and wheels.
The kitchen is the brainchild of Oliver Williams who already runs the
Twist soup kitchen in Galway, which feeds more than 80 people a day.
Oliver Williams is a successful businessman who was concerned for the
many hungry people in Ireland. He said he felt there was a major need
for the new soup kitchen in Athlone that will open for 6 hours every day
except Sunday.
The charity he set up to run the kitchens is not receiving any
government or agency funding and is depending on donations. He has
already pinpointed Roscommon as another location that is in need of a
soup kitchen and fears he may have to open several more.
He has been, "absolutely shocked," at the type of people coming into
the soup kitchen in Galway.
Lawyers, architects, accountants, students,
single mothers, simply ordinary people who have fallen on hard times,
use the service.
He feels that the next budget cuts are going to be really hard and
charities such as his will not be able to cope with ever-increasing
demands.
He had experience of hunger himself when he was homeless in London at the age of 15 and often went to soup kitchens.
One was Centrepoint, which Lady Diana visited with the young princes
many years ago. Her son, Prince William, has since become the patron of
Centrepoint and he has often joined the homeless people at the various
shelters and spent a night on the streets of London sleeping rough to
highlight the issue a few days before Christmas Day in 2009.