A TRUE Northside hero was presented with a lifetime achievement accolade at the Pride of Ireland Awards last week.
Fr Peter McVerry was presented with his award by An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, at a glittering ceremony shown on TV3.
Although he grew up in Newry, Co Down, Fr McVerry worked in Ballymun and the North Inner City from the mid-70s where he first came into contact with young people sleeping on the streets.
“We started working with young people and opened a youth club and a craft centre and then I came across a kid sleeping on the street aged nine-years-old,
? he said.
“We decided we better add a hostel to the services we were already running for young people so we opened a small hostel down in the inner city for six boys, as it was all boys then, there were no girls on the streets in the 1970s.
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Over the next four decades the campaigning priest fought on behalf of young vulnerable, homeless people in Dublin. Last year alone the Trust set up in his name helped a staggering 6,300 youngsters.
Speaking during a pre-recorded segment at last week’s televised ceremony he explained why he continues working with the homeless socially disadvantaged youth.
“Everybody is a child of God, has the dignity of being a child of God and nobody and nothing can take that away from them,
? he said.
“That would be my faith as a Christian and if I’m not working to make that dignity a reality in the lives of people whose dignity has been taken away or undermined by the way they’re treated in society, then my faith is just simply empty words or hypocrisy.
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CEO of the Peter McVerry Trust, Pat Doyle, said his boss thoroughly deserved the Irish Mirror backed Lifetime Award.
“It’s absolutely fitting for someone like Peter to get a lifetime award because that’s what makes him different to others; he spends his whole life doing this,
? he explained.
“We really are in the presence of somebody special and it’s great to see him finally being recognised, and in doing so we’re also recognising some of the most vulnerable, most excluded people. He’s a real hero for lots of us.
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Mark Simpson is one of those helped by Fr McVerry and the Trust and he was quick to praise the charitable priest.
“I’m 30-years-old now and if Peter hadn’t been around for many, many years I don’t think I’d be here right now,
? he said.
“Peter helped me in so many ways, he looks after me if I’m stuck for something. He’s still helping me now this many years down the line.
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The Peter McVerry Trust was officially established in 1983. It now runs 11 hostels, over 100 apartments, a residential drug detox centre and two drug stabilisation services.
An Taoiseach Enda Kenny praised Fr McVerry before presenting him with his award.
“I suppose it’s with some trepidation that any politician should speak about a man whose idiom has always been all about giving,
? he said.
“Fr Peter McVerry, doesn’t preach the Gospel, he lives the Gospel.
“I believe that Fr McVerry and his goodness is, and always must be, written in the heart of Dublin.
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Fr McVerry, who lived in Ballymun for decades, thanked An Taoiseach and said he
“very much
? appreciated the award and dedicated it to staff at the Trust.
“We’ve 200 paid staff and volunteers and they provide the service to homeless people on the ground,
? he said.
“This really is an award to them for all the very dedicated work that they have done in trying to improve the lives of homeless people.
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