Poverty in Ireland has been captured on film in a photo exhibition to be unveiled in Dublin tonight marking 20 years of the Combat Poverty Agency.
Champion of the homeless Fr Peter McVerry will launch the exhibition entitled Combating Poverty 20 Years On,at Dublin's Civic Offices this evening.
In more than 60 photographs renowned photographer Derek Speirs has captured the changing face of Ireland from 1986 to today's Celtic Tiger economy.
Director of the Combat Poverty Agency, Helen Johnston, said the Ireland of today is a world apart from 1986 when 17 percent of the workforce was unemployed and 28,000 people were emigrating every year.
'This exhibition charts the many milestones of success over this period to which Combat Poverty has made a major contribution,' she said.
Ms Johnston said while Ireland's economic success had resulted in major reductions in unemployment and a virtual end to emigration there were new challenges to face.
'Not everyone can take up a job, and not every job guarantees an adequate income.
Many people remain at risk of poverty, with 18.5 per cent of the population living on less than €209 per week.'
The exhibition focuses on a series of issues including who is affected by poverty, how communities are responding to poverty, income adequacy, the value of education in addressing poverty, financial exclusion and child poverty.
"Over the years, we have played a lead role in supporting the development of the institutional framework and co-ordinated responses that now exist for tackling today's poverty issues. We have progressed from championing the need for a National Anti-Poverty Strategy to playing a supporting role in assisting the government and other agencies in implementing that strategy,' she said.
The exhibition also signposts major news stories from 1989 including Jack Charlton's appointment as the manager of the Irish soccer team to the State funeral for former Taoiseach, Charles Haughey.
The exhibition will run at the Civic Offices on Burgh Quay for a week before touring the country.