Get the latest on community development here in Ireland - and abroad

Our latest edition is PACKED with social inclusion and community development news you won't read anywhere else:

LEAD STORY: Early childhood intervention works, according to newly published evidence from Dublin.

MEASURING POVERTY: Ever wondered how poverty is measured and how who gets what? Plenty debate inside the covers here, with Pobal and Truth Haase contributing to a debate begun by Ian Dempsey of West Cork Development Partnership.

FROM BRUSSELS: Ben Panter reports back on how and why we must respond to the humanitarian issue of refugees seeking sanctity. Meanwhile, the EU continues to break international law.

CULTURAL RIGHTS: Ray Lucey went along twice - he volunteered as well as reported - from inside Dublin's only cinema geared specifically towards people who are homeless.

CO-OPS: You'll never bake alone! And how to resurrect clubs that faced the axe. Plus Utopia in Ireland – it’s possible, claims Joe Leddin.

EQUALITY in Monaghan in 1955 is compared to equality today - it seems that only Travellers are worse off than they were six decades ago. Hats off to Monaghan County Council for an utterly unique angle on the struggle for equality.

And HORACE is back, with an answer to the Irish issue of who he should pay for his water!

Zen and the Art of Local development

by Robert Carey

Anyone who read Robert Pirsig’s best selling cult book (most likely in their younger years) ‘Zen and The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance’ and claimed they understood every word could most kindly be accused of being self-deluded.

It was possible however for us mere mortals to glean the essence of some very important concepts. One of these, which was the tension between an empirical approach to life and a more qualitative approach, resonates highly for people today across a range of sectors, not least for those working in local development.

Our work is now dominated by outputs, indicators, logic models, audits, accounting, etc.

This is not to deny the importance of numbers, accounting and systems. They provide necessary structure within which the core work can be carried out and they can also contribute to value for money and in the case of numerical reports for example inform future work.

The importance of finding the correct balance however was illustrated for me at the AGM last week of the company in which I work:

Alignment - For and Against

IN FAVOUR: “This document represents a fundamental re-imagining of the system and it sees local government leading economic, social and community development… Unlike many previous reform documents, this Programme sets out firm decisions by Government rather than proposals for discussion.”

- Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan.

OPPOSED: “While we recognise the need for stronger and more accountable local government, we caution against any attempt to subsume community-led local development bodies into local authorities.”

- 21 academics writing in the Irish Times.

NEWS FEATURE: Community reps negotiate with officials

- Talks continue over small but significant detail of reform plans

Allen Meagher reports:

Talks are continuing between Government officials and representatives from the Irish Local Development Network (ILDN) the representative body for the country’s Local Development Companies (LDCs).

International local development perspectives

LDnet.eu

A new website called ‘LDnet’ focuses on “local development” work across Europe and further afield. The site is being added to all the time and includes an up-to-date article on local development in Ireland.

It looks at a new pilot project recently launched in six US cities by the Obama administration called ‘Strong Cities, Strong Communities’. It also examines the pros and cons of British prime Minister David Cameron's ‘Big Society’ approach to supporting communities, and much more.

W: ldnet.eu

Rest in peace Richard Douthwaite

Richard Douthwaite, Westport, Co. Mayo, has passed away. He was a hero to many of us in Ireland and abroad who strive to promote sustainable local development as opposed to growth and materialism. Tributes are pouring in from around the world and can be read here on Feasta's website.
Richard was a fortune-teller of sorts and his work and writing educated many about green economics. He wrote 'The Growth Illusion' (1992) and 'Short Circuit: Strengthening Local Economies in an Unstable World' (1996).

Thanks Richard and rest in peace.

- A. Meagher