UNEMPLOYMENT IN the State’s worst poverty blackspots will rise above 50 per cent during the recession, a new umbrella group representing more than 100 community development programmes has warned.
The group, formed after a meeting in early March, is to petition Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív to halt cutbacks in the Community Development Programme (CDP) when they meet him in early May.
So far, the programme has suffered two rounds of cutbacks and a further one is looming, Ann Fitzpatrick of Jobstown CDP said yesterday.
The effects of the recession had already been felt in places such as Jobstown, she said.
“We have seen a huge increase in Jobstown in drug dealing; also with petty theft,” she said, adding that there had been “an increase in burnt-out cars” in the area.
Ms Fitzpatrick warned that cutbacks in education meant “we are condemning another generation of children and society at large to suffer the same as the generation before them”.
The numbers out of work were “heading back towards the disastrous 1980s levels of 50 per cent in disadvantaged areas”, according to a statement from the National Interim Body for the Community Development Programme.
“These communities are often very neighbourly, friendly places, but face challenges that were not properly handled during the boom years – children leaving school early, crime, addiction and, in some areas, failed regeneration schemes,” the statement said.
“When new initiatives are introduced to tackle the jobs crisis, we want to see that people in disadvantaged communities are prioritised.”
The statement added: “One of the positives during the boom years was the growth of the community and voluntary sector and the promotion of equality, rights and social inclusion. We must not lose that.”
It said that the Government should “tap into the increasing popularity of volunteering, one of the upsides of the downturn”.
The CDP groups had originally intended to form a national umbrella body next month but, according to Ms Fitzpatrick, had decided to accelerate its formation “because of the nature of the crisis that we, and our communities, now face”.
