Written 5 months ago by Angel Croitor

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Mairead Mooney, a native to Portarlington and a member of Wives and Partners of the Defence Force spoke on Midlands Today about the ‘insulting’ wages of Army Personnel.

Richard, her husband, is stationed in the Curragh at the moment and Mairead says that with the wage he has now they are left with €20 a week after they’ve paid all of their bills. Mairead has moved back in with her parents in order to adapt to the difficulty of surviving on the wage they have nowadays.

‘Mam and Dad are only a short term solution they’re not going to be here forever. I can’t just keep living with them I have to try and work to get out’.

She believes it’s ‘out in the air’ and she can’t see herself making a family within her parents home until circumstances have changed and she’s found her own home.

Mairead has sciatica of the back and is usually bed bound with the immense pain after lifting even the lightest of things sometimes. Her background in childcare has led to this as lifting children was part of her job and induce a back injury over time.

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