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THE AVERAGE AMOUNT that children made from their Holy Communions this year was €543.
That is down from €591 last year.
A new survey has also found that on average, girls did better out of the day, taking back an average of €570, compared with the smaller sum of €512 for boys
Cost of the day
Beyond the outlay on gift money, the cost of the various other expenses associated with the day also ran to a large amount.
The average spend on this was found to be €749 – a decrease of €15 from last year when it ran to €764.
This broke down as €326.74 on food, drink and celebrations; €175.37 on their child’s outfit for the day; €192.22 for the outfits of other family members and; €118.93 on children’s entertainment.
What else did we learn from the survey?
It was found that 13% of children had not spent their Communion money yet, having decided to save it. Around 15% of those involved in the survey had spent the money.
Girls were found to be more likely than boys to save their money.
The most popular items purchased with the money included computer games, toys, sports equipment, and clothes.
The figures have come out of a study carried out as part of the annual Ulster Bank Communion Survey which interviewed more than 200 parents online last month and this month. The parents interviewed had a slightly higher number of girls (54%) than boys (46%).
Last month TheJournal.ie took to the streets to ask people what they remembered about their Holy Communions. Here is what they had to tell us:
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very moving documentary and very difficult to watch. just goes to show that how a person is treated as a child stays with them all through life.
Nomination for Nobel Peace Prize. I hope Christina and her siblings schedule re-unions a few times each year. They deserve to have the time to be together without the intrusion of media and cameras. It might help them fill the empty space that they hover over at the moment. Each of the four no doubt have their own separate circles of friends. They need now to be afforded the space to reaffirm that special circle of friends called family.
She has such passion for children.she is an inspiration to us all.it was a compelling programme
I read her book nearly two decades ago and it still haunts me. I couldn’t understand how her work in Vietnam wasn’t more well known but maybe her account of her childhood was probably too raw for a lot of people. She’s been a personal inspiration.
Some people when they’re at their happiest (singing) show real pain .
Wonderful to see how television reached the hearts of the Irish people (the word premiere was held in Dublin last September). And don’t miss the film NOBLE when it comes around again. It would be nice now to have Journalists, Senators and Politicians comment on Christina Noble’s story, in the context of what is happening in Geneva right now, as Ireland faces the United Nations condemnation of our serious lapses with Human Rights at home.
After watching the programme I think Christina has mentally suffered from her years in an institution you can see the hatred in her against the government and the church at the time and I think her way to deal with that is to look after those unfortunate children .one part where I thought she was out of order was when she made a verbal attack on what she thought was a priest ,you know a lot o priests were sickened as to what happened to these kids too there are a lot of good priest out there . .One more thing I want to say ,I was also institutionalised in an industrial school for years just for not going to school and was abused also but like Jesus I have learned to forgive but not forget I always say those abusers will have to face judgement some day but overall I feel so sorry for Christina for the way it has affected her
@ joeythelad, i agree with you , i found it difficult to watch as christina’s pain is very evident and of course well founded. i was also surprised with the response she got in the pub , dont why ? what i find surprising is that many people either dont know that she is irish or dont know anything about her work at all!
i hope herself and her family have the time they need to try and bond and she finds some peace. so glad that you have learned to forgive , i am not so sure i could forgive, all the best
What a great woman
Nice house in Texas as well
denise, did you watch the programme? what has her brothers house in texas got to do with it? such an odd comment for this story!
I know,Denise !
What should we do about it ? Genuine question .
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