Lydia Smyth, Programme Coordinator with Doras Buí, a community-based resource supporting parents alone in Ireland. Lydia looks back at the organisation's beginnings in 1980's Ireland, when being a single parent carried significant stigma and was often seen as outside the traditional idea of family. While attitudes have changed, lone parents continue to face many challenges, including childcare, co-parenting after separation, financial pressures and housing insecurity.
Doras Buí supports a diverse range of families, including parents who, because of the housing crisis, may still be living under the same roof as an ex-partner. They also work with very young parents and those experiencing isolation who are looking for connection.
www.dorasbuí.ie