To mark International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Cystic Fibrosis Ireland in collaboration with Focus on Happiness and Trevor O'Donoghue Photography, are launching 'The Cost of Breathing' - a photography exhibition which confronts the emotional reality of poverty and Cystic Fibrosis.

Supported by CF Ireland, with support from The Department of Social Protection as part of its funding initiative for the United Nations Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2025, this series uses symbolic self portraits to confront the emotional reality of poverty. J

It asks what it feels like to survive in a system that often overlooks your needs. A place where everything has a cost, even the breath in your lungs.

For people living with Cystic Fibrosis, poverty is an everyday reality. The financial struggles are relentless. Electricity to power life-saving equipment, heating to keep homes damp and condensation free, special food and diets, constant hospital travel, alternate supplements and therapies. But poverty stretches far beyond money. It is the poverty of time lost to daily treatment and hospital visits. The poverty of energy, drained before the day even begins in another battle for health and wellness. The poverty of opportunity, when doors to work, education and relationships close before you ever reach them.

CF Ireland works to ease these pressures through advocacy and support, but systemic barriers remain.

This is not a comfortable story. But it is one told with hope. 

Visit the virtual gallery here.

An in-person viewing of the prints is also available between 2pm and 4pm on Friday the 17th October at CF House. 

The Department of Social Protection supports this project as part of its funding initiative for the United Nations Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The views expressed in this document are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Social Protection.