|TOP|Archbishop Robin Eames of the Church of Ireland is to host a forum on child poverty in Ireland on 6 December at the Dromantine Conference Centre.

The forum will gather together a number of representatives of the state and voluntary organisations engaged in tackling child poverty with a focus on “aspects of child poverty that persist despite the efforts of government and the anti-poverty agencies”, said a Church of Ireland press release.

Archbishop Eames stressed: “The churches have a responsibility to address the issue of poverty among children. This forum is the beginning of a process and not a one-off event. It is certainly not the end of the story.”

Participants at the forum also prepare a challenge to the churches, “seeking guidance from the experts gathered to identify specific objectives that would inform the work of churches in this area”.

|QUOTE|According the statement by the Church of Ireland, the “task of the Forum is to highlight the big issues and then seek inputs about where the churches can make a meaningful impact”.

Archbishop Eames said in his address to the General Synod of the Church of Ireland this year: “Too many instances of child poverty lie hidden behind the perception that the last decade has brought economic improvement to most people.”

The Archbishop quoted recent research by Save the Children which said that more severe child poverty affected around 8 per cent of children in Northern Ireland, with a further 42 per cent of children in the country classified as living in poverty.

Speakers and panellists joining the Archbishop at the event include Baroness May Blood, MBE, Chair of Shankill Sure Start/The Early Years Project, as well as Chair of the Integrated Education Fund in Northern Ireland, Stanislau Kennedy, of Life President and Focus Ireland, and Helen Johnston, director of Combat Poverty Agency.

Archbishop Eames will also be joined by Rev. Bert Tosh and the Most Rev. Richard Clarke, Bishop of Meath and Kildare.