Not the smartest thing to do.
St Vincent de Paul has apologised after a young man who received a cheque for college funds from them posted a picture of himself with the cheque indicating he would spend it at the Listowel Races.
The charity was contacted by the young man who said he needed money to pay for college and he was worried that he would lose his place if he didn’t provide payment.
According to St Vincent de Paul Regional President for Cork and Kerry, Christy Lynch, a decision was made to issue the student with the cheque as it was a time sensitive matter. He said the standard protocol was for the charity to pay the institution directly.
It’s understood that the student posted a picture on social media of the cheque alongside a pint with the caption, “that’s me sorted for the Listowel Races”.
Speaking on Radio Kerry this week, Lynch said: “The young lad had a rush of blood to the head. He was boasting about what he was going to do, it was a silly thing to do
“This was an incident that got out of hand. The family are very upset. It’s done, the good intentions were there by the conference, I stand behind them in that. It was a complete bravado, a ‘look what I’m doing, I got a cheque’.”
Lynch said that the cheque has since been cancelled and the student will have to re-apply for funds. He added that this is the first time something like this has happened and apologised for the incident.
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