Only an Eichmann, Stalin or a Pol Pot would argue with anything uttered by the “Children’s Rights Alliance”. Quite clearly, critics of its “findings” want to see famished tots with rickets arriving barefooted at the soup kitchen clad in ancient Rwandan loin-cloths. So naturally, the claims by “Children’s Rights Alliance” that the number of children “experiencing deprivation” in Ireland has gone up from 220,091 to 260,773 have been universally acclaimed as a devastating insight into the cruel realities of Irish life.
But why stop at 260,773? Why not 999,243 children “experiencing deprivation”, or even more? The numbers cited are entirely random and wholly meaningless. Closer analysis reveals that the term “experiencing deprivation” embraces children “at risk of poverty”. Not experiencing poverty, but at risk of experiencing it. This is not a fact, but a hypothesis. This is like saying that a plane at risk from crashing – as they all are – has crashed. Has anyone told Michael O’Leary’s insurers this?
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