A report from the series 'Newsbeat' on poverty at Christmas. Shoppers are shown in a department store and the reporter Cathal O' Shannon gives details on the amount of money that will be spent this Christmas on items such as toys and cards.

In Galway Francis Kendall-Husband the last wandering bard in Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales tells Cathal O'Shannon about homelessness at Christmas and throughout the year.

The clip shown here is edited from a longer report looking at how a bard, a Traveller family, a fortune teller and an unemployed man would be spending Christmas. This edition of 'Newsbeat' was broadcast 18 December 1969.

'Newsbeat' was a half-hour feature programme which ran on television from Monday to Friday from September 1964 to June 1971. Reporting on stories from around the country, 'Newsbeat' covered affairs of the day with contributions from print journalists and RTÉ news staff.

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