Parishioners praised for ‘incredible’ generosity

A member of the singing group The Priests, who features on this year’s Trócaire Lenten box, has praised the “incredible” generosity of Irish parishes in raising life-changing funds for the world’s most vulnerable.

Fr Martin O’Hagan, Trócaire’s representative in the Diocese of Down and Connor, told The Irish Catholic that the “people of Ireland deserve such credit and praise for the help they have given over 40 years and more”. “The number of countries and people’s lives turned around through the kindness of so many is just incredible,” he said.

Fundraising

Trócaire launched its annual Lenten campaign, the biggest annual fundraising campaign in Ireland, on Shrove Tuesday and for the first time the Trócaire box features supporters from Ireland.

“They thought outside the box,” Fr O’Hagan said. “It is a different way of looking at the campaign and how the kindness of one individual can have a ripple effect. When you think of all the people of Ireland and all the dioceses who contribute to this campaign, all these people pulling together are shaping the world and challenging a perception, building up human rights and offering education and offering new opportunities.”

The 2015 Lenten campaign raised almost €8.3m in public donations, almost a 4% increase on the 2014 figure of €8m.