New textbook on Community Development

A new textbook introducing the theories and practices of community development, complimented by case-studies of Irish success stories, has been published.

In 250-pages ‘Community Development: Theory, Policy and Practice’ achieves a lot, for example it:

A lesson for the country - Ballymun kids lift school attendance by 14,000 days

The Government is planning to extend the law that holds parents to account when their child misses school unnecessarily. The new law would also cover the parents of children under six years of age. Meanwhile, Ballymun has come up with a completely new (and possibly complimentary) approach.

A Local Development Company in Dublin has used computer software and a community development approach to dramatically improve school attendances.

By Conor Hogan

In 2008, the attendance rate for primary schools in Ballymun was worse than that of other disadvantaged areas and 3.5% below than the national average.

Local community and educational organisations to take action and in the past two years the gap compared to the national average has halved. Last year, 14,000 less school days were missed in all.

Meanwhile, chronic absenteeism for Traveller boys has fallen by over 24% while the attendance rate for Traveller girls actually overtook the national average for schools in disadvantaged areas.

So how did they go about achieving this?

Village buys business and saves jobs

BY EVELYN O’ROURKE

The village of Sangudo in Alberta, Canada, mirrors some of the challenges faced by communities in Ireland.

With a population of 360 people, Sangudo has until recently, experienced a steady rate of economic decline. Businesses were forced to close and the younger population had no option but to leave in order to find work.

Many communities in Ireland are facing similar challenges. With the onset of recession, businesses have been forced to close, and young people are compelled to emigrate.

The community of Sangudo tackled the situation by making positive changes, together. 

Cut to Back To Work Allowance “a concern”

Louise Brogan

The level of State financial support for people starting their own business – critical to 5,040 people who did just that last year - has been reduced by two years.

“This is a genuine concern. The four-year allowance added a really big strength to the Start Your Own Business scheme,” said Louise Brogan of Donegal LDC.

Crucially, the Start Your Own Business course in Donegal, as elsewhere, allows participants to avail of the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance. This means newly self-employed people can retain their social welfare benefit in full for the first year and receive a 75% payment in their second year of running a new business.

For example, someone on Jobseekers Allowance gets €188 in the first year and €141 for the following 12 months. Secondary benefits such as medical card and fuel allowance are also permitted.

However, after two years, the allowance stops. Previously, it was spread out over four years.

“The scheme really works, it really turns people’s lives around and if people had another year or two to wean themselves off it would be better,” said Louise.

476 new businesses sprout in Donegal - with a survival rate of 60% after three years

AIB’s Jim McLaughlin, DLDC chair Jim Slevin and winner Michael Conway.  

Ann Styles reports

Entrepreneurs in Donegal have access to a wealth of information and support from their Local Development Company (LDC).

From Start Your Own Business (SYOB) courses to mentoring and workshops, the company provides a comprehensive support system for people, many of who have been long-term unemployed, with a desire to set up their own business. The LDC has two full time project officers who co-ordinate the service which has supported over 1900 people to date.

Offaly men changing their lives

Keith Walsh and Michael Egan

Interviews by Robert McNamara 

 Keith Walsh and Michael Egan from Clara both did the 16 month programme and are continuing on with further education and community involvement. Community workers first approached Keith and Michael about the programme and now they are themselves recommending it to people they meet.

Changing Ireland issue 39 - out now

Open publication - Free publishing - More civil society
The most popular Civil Society magazine in Ireland.

LEAD STORY: Jobs you haven't heard about - 5000 people develop new businesses
Reports from: Canada, Sweden, Brussels, Meath, Donegal, Cork, Offaly, Galway, Limerick & Dublin.

PLUS:

• Volunteers fill the gaps in West Cork

• Meath woman says "Bite the Bullet"

• 12 great websites

• NEW: textbook about Community Development

• EXAMINED: The social impact of adult education classes

• 1-in-6 find jobs with LCDP support

• Solutions and responses to long-term unemployment

• Changing the world; changing ourselves

• Ireland Mark II 

• The Diary of Doris McDermott

• News briefs

Volunteers now running 3 job-seekers' centres

Citizens fill in where there are no staff in West Cork

By Robert McNamara

Three community led job-seekers centres, staffed by volunteers, are currently operating in the West Cork area, with plans for three more to be opened.

Only for them, unemployed people in West Cork would be left to swim.

The centres which offer free advice and confidential support in Bandon, Kinsale and Clonakilty are managed by the West Cork Development Board (WCDP) and offer a "holistic" approach to job-searching. A “buddy” system operates, with volunteers assisting the job-seekers in all aspects of the process.

The centres serve a region that comprises of eight mid-size towns, which currently have approximately 10,000 people on the live register. There are no Local Employment Services Offices, or Jobs Clubs, and only 9 per cent of the territory is covered by Local Development Plans.

Community workers seek to harvest ideas for the future

By Robert McNamara and Allen Meagher

INTRODUCTION

A new way of looking at communities in Ireland is being sought in the run-up to the 20^th anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit.
President Michael D Higgins thought this work was important enough to officiate at the opening in Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary, of Convergence 2012 which was filmed by 'Changing Ireland'. The move is towards promoting “community resilience” in place of “sustainable development.”

BACKGROUND

A wet summer's day in Cloughjordan

Most of the global promises made in Rio in 1992 were not honoured while economic growth continued to be promoted, destroying ecosystems and increasing Ireland’s temperature in the intervening two decades by 0.75 degrees, meaning we’re on course for a four degree rise here within the lifetime of some of today’s children. 

The message 20 years after the first Earth Summit in Rio is that too few people took notice of the “Think Global, Act Local” slogan to change their lifestyle, become more active citizens and embrace sustainable development.

Instead we’ve had industrial and economic development on a global scale and that’s despite nations promising to slow down to avoid irreversible climate change, the destruction of habitats and so on.

But if the doomsday predictions of societal collapse and species wipe-out didn’t get the message across, what will people listen to? What values shape our behaviour?

That’s the question being discussed around the country this year as part of what’s called Convergence 2012, led by environmentalists and community workers in County Tipperary, who feel we’ve reached the point of “Peak Everything” – a time when the best ideas are likely to come to the fore – as nations and societies begin involuntarily to slow down.

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. 

25,000 jobs possible, says John Murphy

John Murphy CEO Speedpak

The EU Commission’s ‘Social Business Initiative’ reflects the value and potential the EU Commission sees in models of social enterprises and entrepreneurship right across Europe.

Social enterprises represent on average 5% of GDP in the EU but only 3% in Ireland – so we have some catching up to do. It’s estimated that if over 5 years we could reach the EU average we would create 25,000 jobs.

Clifden’s Mary Kirby – 30 years volunteering

Mary Kirby/Clifden

BY ROBERT MCNAMARA

Cancer survivor, volunteer and community organiser. There are many things that exemplify Mary Kirby of Clifden, Connemara, but it is her unwavering optimism that shines through the most.

“I always look at the glass as half-full, no matter what problems you have, whether it's medical or financial, if you really look for the positive side that will take you through. I have found that in my own life.”

15,000 employed and 70,000 trained

Brian Carty of the Irish Local Development Network

- Survey of local development companies indicates

Over an 18-month period, Local Development Companies (LDCs) directly supported an estimated 15,000 people to find their way back into paid work, placed around 70,000 people on training courses and provided support to about 10,000 small business start-ups. Many if not most of these people were long-term unemployed.
 
The Irish Local Development Network (ILDN) has just published the results of a survey for 2010 and the first six months of this year. The survey covered just over half (27 out of 51) the LDCs in the country and our headline figures are based on a doubling of the numbers. The actual national impact may be slightly lower or indeed higher.