Cuts could force Fergal to sell boat
DREAM TURNS TO DESPERATION FOR FAMILY
Fergal spent a year building his powerboat from scrap.
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A BALROTHERY man is looking at the prospect of having to sell off his dream to help his family who have been attacked from all angles by savage cuts in social welfare announced in the Budget.
Earlier this year, the Fingal Independent told the inspiring and uplifting story of Fergal Butler and his family.
Fergal had spent a year building his dream speedboat out of scrap wood and parts bought cheaply on eBay while being a full-time carer for son with Cerebral Palsy and his wife with MS.
Just a few short months on from the launch of the boat, Fergal could be forced to sell the craft after the budget left the already struggling family, much worse off.
After cuts in carers' allowance, disability allowance, children's allowance and the guardian payment paid to the family to take care of Fergal and wife Lynda's niece, the family is facing a monthly cutback of around € 140 from an already low income.
A defiant Lynda Butler said: 'I have a way of getting on with life. We do that with everything and we'll do it with this too.'
But the Balrothery woman said: ' We were just getting by as it is so I don't know how we will manage now.'
Justifiably angry about the cuts, she said that families like her who were dependent on social welfare were being attacked while 'the rich stay rich'.
Eight years ago, Lynda gave birth to a baby boy called Kyle who was born with Cerebral Palsy.
The birth ultimately led to complications in Lynda's own health and she developed Multiple Sclerosis (MS). More recently, Lynda's condition has meant she is unable to manage Kyle on her own and her husband, Fergal, has become the full-time carer in the family.
In the midst of all these struggles, that might have crushed a lesser family, Fergal took on a seemingly impossible project to build his own powerboat and a little over a year later, he launched the craft.
But the family's difficult financial situation in the wake of the budget could result in the sale of his beloved boat.
Lynda told the Fingal Independent: 'If the price is right it will have to go. Money is obviously more important to us than having a boat in the garden.'
- John MANNING
