Barnardos has celebrated its 10th year as an independent Irish organisation with a party last night attended by the President, Mrs McAleese, the boxer Francis Barrett and Ray Darcy, of RTE, at The Great Hall, Dublinia, in Temple Bar.
In her address, Mrs McAleese congratulated Barnardos on its achievements in the last decade but said there was still a need to spread the benefits of our economic prosperity.
"Not just out of compassion or decency but because it is the right thing to do and the surest guarantee of future success. The greatest danger that faces us is complacency. We can rightly take pride in all we have achieved but must equally recognise that poverty and disadvantage are still the tragic norm for many of our people."
Barnardos has a countrywide network which caters for children and their families.