Journalist's first-hand experience on JobPath

PARTING COMPANY WITH TURAS NUA

- "Potentially, I was a poster boy for their endeavours"

BY BEN PANTER

What is it like to spend a year on JobPath? 

We recognise the importance of hearing from people experiencing disadvantage or discrimination.
Many have no doubt found JobPath worked for them, but despite statistics that point to low levels of complaints, the 'labour activation' programme seems to dissatisfy many. 

It has been debated at the highest levels in the Dáil, however nobody in that chamber has the first hand experience that Ben Panter was able to bring to the table. 

- Editor

FULL TEXT OF BEN PANTER'S ARTICLE, as published in the current edition of 'Changing Ireland' (available through Easons):

Jon was ecstatic – The Community Employment (CE) Scheme had offered him a role as a carer, enabling him to achieve his lifelong vocation, after a period of unemployment. Days later his tone had changed.

“Because I am with Turas Nua, I am not allowed to take the job,” he said.

I thought he was joking, but alas no. A place on a CE scheme is not a job.

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YOUNG DADS LEARN THE ROPES

TEEN PARENTING

Read the full article in Issue 56 - Winter 2016/’17 of ‘Changing Ireland’!

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 YOUNG DADS LEARN THE ROPES 

BY CIAN MATTHEW KEARNS

  When you hear the words “teen parent” the mind jumps to a scared young girl and an absent father. Yet, this is often not the case. 

Young dads from Ballyfermot discovered inner strengths 

and also that there’s no mountain, never mind any hill, 

that they can’t climb. These are not trips for the faint-hearted or softies!

A 2012 study by Crisis Pregnancy revealed that, in general, adolescent males who are parents believe they should take responsibility for the pregnancy and not leave everything up to their girlfriend (where applicable). Furthermore, given a range of preferences for the future, 38% of those surveyed wanted to stay with their girlfriend and raise the baby together. While surprising to some, this reflects reality. Almost a third of young parents are already cohabiting. 

Margaret Morris, co-ordinator of the national ‘Teen Parents Support Programme’, explains that keeping fathers involved in their child’s life is crucial, even if their parents’ relationship has ended.

MOTHER AND SISTER OF LATE CLODAGH HAWE LAUNCH FUND FOR WOMEN’S AID 

Read the full article in Issue 56 - Winter 2016/’17 of ‘Changing Ireland’!

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The mother and sister of Clodagh Hawe 

who was murdered in her home last year 

alongside her three sons Liam, Niall and 

Ryan, have set up a fund in their memory, 

with all proceeds going to Women’s Aid.

The aim is to raise at least €50,000. “Clodagh was strong and beautiful inside and out and was so loving,” wrote Clodagh’s mother Mary Coll and sister Jacqueline Connolly. 

 “She was warm, loving, bright and capable and she was bringing her boys Liam, Niall and Ryan, up to have those same qualities. We want their deaths to help other women who are living in fear and isolation in their own homes.”

 “Please support our fundraising appeal for Women’s Aid. One in five women in Ireland experience domestic abuse and many women are isolated and alone,” said Mary and Jacqueline. The four were killed on August 31st by their husband and father Alan Hawe who afterwards killed himself.

Donations can be made online through this page: 

https://give.everydayhero.com/ie/in-memory-of-clodagh-liam-niall-and-ryan

FEMICIDE

209 WOMEN'S DEATHS

COMMEMORATED DURING

16 DAYS OF ACTION

  By December, 209 women had been murdered in Ireland since 1996 when Women’s Aid began recording figures. 

Marking the annual ‘16 Days of Action Opposing Violence Against Women’, Margaret Martin, director of Women’s Aid said: 

“Femicide must not be accepted as a fact of life. Women should be safe in their homes and in their relationships. And we must recognise the strong connection between the killing of women and domestic violence.”

Community workers,
 Researchers and Minister size up 
barriers/solutions

BY ALLEN MEAGHER

Read the full article in Issue 56 - Winter 2016/’17 of ‘Changing Ireland’!

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The 2016 annual Pobal Conference was held in The Helix threatre, DCU, Dublin, on the day after the world learned that Donald Trump had won the US presidential election.

Given the platform on which he stood and how he tapped into alienation among the working poor and those on the margins, Pobal’s conference theme was apt: “Creating an Inclusive Labour Market”. 

Unemployment in Ireland fell to 7.2% by January of this year, 0.1% lower than in November, However, unemployment remains high for groups such as refugees, Travellers and people with low formal education, while people who are unemployed for more than three years (termed “very long-term unemployed”) face considerable barriers.

The audience/participants and the many guest speakers – too many to mention – identified barriers and sought solutions to make employment opportunities more socially inclusive.