'Be wary of markets, boards and sharp elbows' Wheel conference told

Excellent speakers attended The Wheel’s conference during the summer, among them Martyn Evans, Mary Murphy and Brendan Halligan, REPORTS ALLEN MEAGHER.

Company boards were identified as the greatest barrier to advocacy work, co-operation is the way forward (no surprise) and we’ve to be wary of the market and “sharp-elbowed people”.

 Martyn Evans, CEO of the Carnegie UK Trust noted that the average life expectancy of Irish males had risen greatly in the past 100 years (from 53 to 79 years) and the current social system appeared to have served us well,

We're all healthier, wealthier, wiser, and certainly better educated. But income inequality in Ireland has changed very little, he noted. For example, 10% of children leave school unable to read.

While there have been massive improvements, they have been differentially distributed which is a sign of “system failure”.

One outcome, he said, was that less than 50% of people across Europe have trust in their governments, according to the OECD.

How to get the digital edition of Changing Ireland

It's now easier to get Changing Ireland then ever before. Here is a quick 'how to' guide on accessing the magazine using various technology.

 1. On your computer - Just click the link below and you can scroll around and turn pages just as you would the print edition.

Open publication - Free publishing - More civil society

2. On your iPhone - Select your browser. Log onto www.issuu.com and search 'changingireland'. This will give you access to our library where you can select issue 40. Alternatively go to www.changingireland.ie and click the link on our homepage.

3. On your Android phone - Go to www.changingireland.ie and select the link on our homepage.

Should you experience any problems, please give Robert a call at 061-458090. Print copies will be with readers soon.

Mind your tongue, warns President Higgins

Anna Vissor and President Michael D Higgins at the Advocacy Initiative

President Michael D. Higgins has criticised the use of expressions such as “service users” and “clients” to describe people who interact with community and voluntary sector organisations.

He was speaking at a conference organised on February 13th by a new organisation called the Advocacy Initiative. Since President Higgins delivered a completely different speech to the one written for him and since it isn’t available anywhere else, ‘Changing Ireland’ is pleased to present it. 

Transcription by Conor Hogan.  Youtube embed at the bottom of the page.

Tá an-athas orm bheith ar maidin. I’m very happy to be here, indeed, the process of my speeches now is that I’m becoming ever more dynamic, so I’m changing them as I go along all the time. I’d like to respond indeed to your own quotation of mine over address. The first thing I’d want to say is to wish you well in sharing knowledge. The most useful thing I can do in a few minutes is to offer you a few reactions to your programme as I saw it. 

New counselling initiative reaching people for first time

“It helped to give me a kickstart in life," a participant in the Gateway Project said of it. "It gave my life meaning and made me want to make something of it.”

Established in Dublin in 2004 as a pilot scheme between the then Rathmines Community Partnership and mental health providers locally, Gateway is one of the most successful mental health projects in Ireland.

 “The key is integration,” community development worker Martha Griffin said, “giving people autonomy over their own lives and combating the problems of stigma and labeling.”

Wheel & Irish Rural Link to ensure everybody hears about tv switchover

On October 24th, rabbit ears and fuzzy receptions will become a thing of the past in Ireland thanks to the digital switchover. This change will affect roughly a quarter of a million households who are currently using only the analogue service.

EU Year of Active Ageing - Somebody Really Should Do Something!

By Marie Louise Byrne

2012 is the EU Year of Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations – a somewhat wordy title which aims to raise awareness of the fact that we are living longer and staying healthier than ever before – and to realise the opportunities that represents.

Population projections indicate that by 2030 one in five people living in Ireland will be 65 years or older. With active citizenship and inclusion at the core of his inaugural speech, President Michael D. Higgins will launch the EU Year at a ceremony in Dublin Castle on February 9th, he will be joined by Minister Kathleen Lynch, Minister of State for Disability, Equality, Mental Health & Older People and also by Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgearld.

Seanad Debate - Opposition divided over “alignment”

Minister Phil Hogan (FG)

Minister Phil Hogan addressed the issue of “aligning” the local development sector with local government in the Seanad on November 9th.

 
The Local and Community Development Programme is, Hogan said, “a key social inclusion intervention” in tackling poverty and exclusion through partnership between the government and disadvantaged communities. 

He continued: “The programme is more relevant than ever, given the current economic crisis and the level of unemployment.”

Dail Report - Two Day Debate over community sector

Sinn Fein's Brian Stanley

On October 11th and 12th, the Dail debated the work of the voluntary and community sector, prompted by a motion from Laois-Offaly TD Brian Stanley (SF).

The motion, which ran to two pages, called for the sector to be recognised, and in particular for the Government “to establish an All-Ireland Consultative Civic Forum promised by the Good Friday Agreement, which would enable communities to engage with others across civic society and across the country and share information, learning and best practice on an all-Ireland basis.”

Country will be clean as a whistle shortly

A scrap metal collection

- Communities hoovering up scrap metal to raise funds

Keeping a local community organisation or sports club going can be a costly affair and many took to collecting scrap metal this year to raise money. GAA clubs led the way and the idea spread like wildfire because donating costs nothing for local residents and it’s financially rewarding for the clubs.

Steel, for instance, has seen its value shoot up from €30 to €220 per tonne in less than 12 months. Portmarnock Community School collected scrap to raise funds for a project in Lesotho. Meelin GAA Club in Co. Cork also jumped on the idea. So too did Castleisland Soccer Club. The list goes on.

The first to notice the skyrocketing prices were criminal gangs and across the country they’ve stolen everything from beerkegs to bronzeworks. But in Donegal for instance, it is the GAA that is doing best from the rising prices by holding ‘Scrap Saturday’ collections.

It’s time to measure the value of volunteering

Conor Hogan

-       EU Year of the Volunteer report

BY CONOR HOGAN

It has been said that for every euro spent towards volunteering, the yield is between €5 and €8. Such arithmetic is crude, however, for in reality they are priceless for those who need their help. 

Perhaps then there is some karma in the fact that altruism is good for you, as a US report published in 2007 found that volunteers have greater longevity, higher functional ability, lower rates of depression and less incidence of heart disease.

As well as its health benefits, volunteering is also a definite way to express a person’s active citizenship. “With our sovereignty in this country currently compromised, volunteering is a way of making yourself involved in the decision making process,” Dr Yvonne McKenna of Volunteer Ireland told us.

Despite all these positives, only about a quarter of the European population gives of their free time to help others. It is thought that the Irish participation rate is below the European average, although no national volunteering records are kept.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT MOST POPULAR IN GALWAY - Google "Fact"

Is Community Development on the slippery slope in Ireland today?

It appears there is most interest in "community development" in Galway, with Cork and Limerick following next, followed oddly by the capital Dublin.

However, if 'Google Analytics' is any kind of reliable guide (and we're not saying it is) the relative slide in Irish interest in the concept of community development may be a cause for concern.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

According to Google's chart here people are not looking it up online as much as before

PHOTO-REPORT from ICTU's mass rally in Dublin, Nov 27

We've posted photos from the mass rally outside the GPO on Saturday on our Facebook page.

For the record, our estimate of the numbers who took part are: 70,000 people on O'Connell Street and approx 100,000 who took part at one point or another in the march.

The speeches included powerful and well-received contributions from Siobhan O'Donoghue, Fintan O'Toole and Christy Moore among others.

Christy sang a song for Joe McNamara, about the only person who faces charges due to the banking crisis - he was the man who parked up his cement mixer outside the Dail when it returned after the summer recess.

Captions:

Top image: Fintan O'Toole addresses the rally outside the GPO.

Lower image: Minimum wage cut protesters call for the return of the Irish pound.

Photos copyleft 'Changing Ireland': - meaning you can use the photos but you must name the source.

Cuts of €35m over 4 years to Dept of Community, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs

Cuts of €35m are planned for the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs from 2011-2014.
The chart below covers some details of the cuts for the coming year, 2011. It comes from the Government's official four-year plan which is downloadable from this page.

The Community Workers Co-op have published a 7-page response to the budget from a Community viewpoint:
http://www.cwc.ie/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/CWC-Community-Work-Updates-November-2010.pdf

Your opinion?

CLICK TO ENLARGE

INTERVIEW - Minister Carey says 'no' to national forum proposal, but 'yes' to some local proposals

‘Changing Ireland’ interviewed Minister Pat Carey yesterday on a range of topics, including a key question over changing structures for State support for communities within the framework of the Local and Community Development Programme.

A lot of people had pinned hopes on the new Minister taking fully on board proposals coming from the ground up and initial comments by the Minister at events in Cork and Kerry recently were promising.

Many voluntary boards of Community Development Projects and some Partnership companies were hoping he would give the ‘ok’ for Service Level Agreements (SLA) between CDPs and other agencies. It would have meant that staff could remain employed by the same board of local volunteers and would not have to transfer to join the staff of the larger Partnership companies.

However, while the Minister didn’t rule out SLAs entirely, he yesterday said each proposal would be judged on its own merits, area-by-area.

Two SLA proposals involving roughly a dozen projects in both Limerick city and Cork city and county have already been accepted.

However, communities in Galway, Youghal, Tipperary and Donegal (among others) have had SLA proposals rejected.

And nationally, the Minister yesterday rejected the idea of allowing CDPs countrywide to enter into SLAs, as proposed by the National Community Development Forum.

The deadline for submitting ‘integration plans’ or alternatives proposals is officially tomorrow, June 30^th. However, the Minister has left the door ajar, just about.

Here’s how he handled the question over SLAs. The interviewer was Allen Meagher:

Interviewer: The Service Level Agreement model has been pushed by a good number of CDPs and by the National Community Development Forum. Is that something that you view favourably?

Minister: It could work in some circumstances but not in all.

Interviewer: Can you explain what those circumstances are?

Minister: No, because.. (cut off by interviewer).

Interviewer: I know Cumann na nDaoine CDP in Youghal put in a proposal.

Minister: If you’re talking about one size fits all, what might apply in A-Community might not apply in B-Community.

…I’m not prepared to say here and now ‘yeah, that’ll be grand’. It’s going down to the one size fits all.

Interviewer: Your officials have rejected most SLA proposals to date (apart from the Limerick model and the Cork model). Might one be accepted in the future?

Minister: It’s possible yes.

Interviewer: There’s a June 30th deadline. This interview is taking place 2 days before that deadline. Are you willing to extend that deadline?

Minister: No, I need some clarity about where we’re going to go.

Interviewer: If somebody did come along next week and proposed (an alternative) would it be too late?

Minister: We can apply injury time.

OTHER QUESTIONS WE PUT TO THE MINISTER INCLUDED:

1) Are special arrangements being made for Traveller CDPs and for Women’s CDPs?

2) Are FRCs next in line for absorption into the Local and Community Development Programme?

3) What hopes has the Minister for his new and stronger Department?

4) Will the Minister accept that the cuts to the Community Sector are disproportionate, as a report by Brian Harvey suggests? The story was the page one lead in yesterday’s Irish Examiner.

5) What’s the story on support for community groups on the ground in inner-city Dublin where the Dublin Inner City Partnership has been closed down?

6) Relating to Shell’s work in North Mayo, had the Minister a view on the imprisonment of campaigner and trawler fisherman Pat O’Donnell?

7) We also asked the Minister about the role of the Centre for Effective Services.

MORE IN OUR NEXT BLOG ENTRY… TOMORROW.

AND THE FULL INTERVIEW WILL BE PUBLISHED IN OUR NEXT PRINT EDITION OF ‘CHANGING IRELAND’, DUE OUT LATER THIS MONTH.

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