a typical Dublin charity shop.  
  
                       Charity shops are now big buisness. They are to be
found in every town and village in Ireland and in Dublin it is quite
normal to see several in the same street. Their profits run into
the millions of which little and sometimes none go to any charity.
In many cases these charities are actually making the situation
worse for those they are supposed to be helping. This can be
seen most clearly with organistation like The Simon Community
who receive money from the state to look after the homeless
and thereby let the government off the hook. And if anyone asks
the government what they are doing for the homeless they will
refer to the millions they give to charities to look after things.
And they do give millions. But most of the money goes on wages
and administration and little is left for those in need.
  And then there is the money they get for sales. All their stock
is of course donated, most of it being books and clothes and
sometimes furniture. Antiques are also donated but they are
not often sold in the shops, generally being put aside for a  few
favoured dealers. Rents are often below the market price
but not always.
 While this site is to a large extent about the social side of
charity shops, ie the people who go to them, the gossip and
anecdotes we will also be featuring articles on the politics
of these shops and the whole phenomena of the charity
'buisness'.
 If you have a contribution you would like to make please do
let us know and we will try where possible to include it here.