changing ireland winter 2010

8/8/2019 Changing Ireland Winter 2010

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Winter 2010

Th s bl t st j ts f t LocaL and communiTy deveLopmenT programme

Issue 34 2.25The National Magazine of the Local and Community Development Programmewww.changingireland.ie / www.changingireland.blogspot.com

Clai ing O r F t re

People PowerCan Prevail

TAKE A LEADTHINK BIG

TAKE ACTION! THINK POSITIVE Photo: Claiming Our Future event on October 30th. Copyright: Derek Speirs.

ONLINE RACISm:H ndreds co plain, charges pending

SuCCESS FOR:Wo ens CDPs

THOuSANDS OFNEW jOBS:Which yo havent heard abo t

PLuS ImF c ts: m lti-billion e ro

alternatives Horace: O tlook is bright!!


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term unemployed and the most marginalised and rom our enquiries theare making a real di erence and weve the gures to prove it. Monitorinmechanisms incorporated into the Programme will deliver more data onthis and other initiatives in the months ahead.

In the uture, the Programmes capacity to accurately record andmeasure inputs and outputs, value or money in other words, oneverything rom the delivery o jobs to community development, will prove crucial to its development.

CDPs IN 2010

Finally, as we approach the end o 2010 it brings to a close a turbulent period o time or CDPs across the country. Te announcement andcreation o the LCDP was met with protest and resistance by CDPs. Ithas meant CDPs deciding to amalgamate with their Local DevelopmentCompanies or going it alone. However (as the article on pages 8-9highlights) many CDPs have collectively come together and been able tsuccess ully argue the case or alternative ways o moving orward.

Editorial

Im staying positive, but rst letsacknowledge the act that by the time you read this the Irish public may wellbe thinking o aoiseach Brian Cowen

in the same vein as historic gure DiarmuidMacMurrough. What actually inspires me is the growing

emergence o civil society in Ireland and Ive nodoubt that among those awakening are some o our uture leaders and heroes.

Tey dont know who they are themselves yet, but many o them would have been at theClaiming Our Future event on October 30thin Dublin. Tere have been other think-tank

con erences, but this one was di erent because itcaptured the public imagination.

In the summer edition we criticised Is Feidir Linn, who were among thosebehind the event, and rightly so at the time, but theyve come up trumps,theyve broadened out their campaign and we take our hats o to them.

People who wouldnt turn up or an hour-long protest on a Wednesday gaveup a ull Saturday or the event. Te mission was to agree/vote on the values we hold most dear and the policies Ireland should pursue to promote those values and then spread the call or action locally and nationally.

Over a thousand active citizens took part, including people rom the Localand Community Development Programme. (One Local DevelopmentCompany had an exhibition in a corner o the giant hall).

Over two thousand people tried to get tickets to the event and the word isspreading: Claiming Our Future is turning into a new social movement andlocal branches are springing up.

It promises to be real, to inspire people to take action and to be locally-rooted. Everyone rom business people to barristers to homeless people andactivists were at the event. It has the potential to become a vehicle or replacing public ear with a sense o national purpose, destiny and collective action.

While there is a danger it could dwindle to become another talking shop,a com ort-blanket or people on the le , people are determined that wonthappen.

In a positive sign, many old hands and sceptics have put caution aside andembraced the work. Tere is a hunger or new ideas and a push or taking action that can lead to positive change.

Te event got relatively muted media coverage understandable given theobsession with the economy. It was however the biggest and widest gathering o civil society in a generation and its sa e to say that the campaign to build anew republic is currently being led by activists in the community sector, thetrade union movement, the wider NGO sector, environmentalists, business people and ordinary Josephine and Joe Soaps.

Te real surprise or many on the day was to nd that most people rankedthe environment and sustainable development among the top values a newIreland should aspire to. Tat also echoes the ndings o a survey o young people conducted recently by Spunout.ie.

It was also invigorating to see that equality ranked very high on the values-chart. Mechanisms or taking control o the economy to serve the greater public good were also valued.

I people power is to prevail, then these values will be a orded the highestmerit in the years ahead.

Its a big ask, but not impossible.One to watch. One to join. One the elite should be nervous about.

AN I-RACISM

On another equality note, our readers are due praise or taking swi actionollowing reports in our previous issue about racist websites. Tank you!Hundreds o people, we are told, complained to the Garda and the crimes arenow under investigation. For more on this, read page 10-11.

JOB CREA IONhere have been no big jobs announcements rom Local DevelopmentCompanies because o the nature o their work, but the Programme

nationally is succeeding in getting thousands o people into work, or instancethrough small business start-ups. Many o the schemes are aimed at the long-

Claiming Our Future:

PEOPLE POWERMUST PREVAIL

Published By:Changing Irelandis the national magazine o the Local

and Community Development Programme and is managedand published by the Community Development Network,Moyross, Limited, through unding rom the Department o Community, Equality and Gaeltacht A airs.

Postal address:Changing Ireland, c/o CommunityEnterprise Centre, Moyross, Limerick.

Ofce base: Unit 3, Sars eld Gardens Business Centre,Sars eld Gardens, Moyross, Limerick.

el Editor: 061-458011.el Administrator: 061-458090.

Fax: 061-325300.E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

Website: www.changingireland.ie Also check s o t on Yo t be, Facebook and Blogger.

Production:Editor: Allen Meagher Administrator (part-time): im HouriganEditorial team: Allen Meagher, Juan Carlos Azzopardi, VivSadd, Jim OBrien, Grinne NicDhonnacha. Juan Carlos Azzopardi and Allen Meagher.Reporting: Articles are primarily written by CommunityDevelopment workers and volunteers who have an interestin reporting.Design and print by:Te Print Factory, Five Alley, Birr, Co.O aly. W: www.print actory.ie

Thanks To . . .Changing Ireland thanks everyone involved in the production o Issue 34.

DisclaimerTe views expressed in this newsletter are those o the author

concerned. Tey do not, by any means, necessarily re ectthe views o the Editor, the editorial team, the managementcommittee o the Community Development Network,

Moyross, Ltd., or the Department o Community, Equality andGaeltacht A airs.

If you dont stand for something, youll fall for anything


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c on t en t s

3.

P R O D U C E D I N M O Y R O S S

B Y T H E CO M M U N I T Y

D E V E L O P M E N T N E T W O R K

4 NEWSCommunity activists shut down Facebook hate sites

Facebook members could end with convictionsNew Ministers,new Department, new Head 5

5 CLAIMING OUR FUTURE:Interview with Siobhan ODonohue

6 -7 NEWSOn The Ground

8 WORKING WITHOUT PAY FOR EXPERIENCE- Communities may get sudden in ux o help

- Labour Market Activation Programmes- Begin Again- Green Works

9 JOBS, TRAINING AND BUSINESS START-UPS:- Donegal

- North Dublin- Clondalkin

- Cork - Laois

10-11 ANTI-RACISM FOLLOW-UP:- Garda investigating anti-Traveller websites

- Letter to the Editor

12- ANTI-RACISM AND PROGRAMME NEWS- Taking on disability bullies

- Where CDPs now stand

13 NEWS- 48 LDCs now have websites

14 SECTOR NEWS:- Cork produces community toolkits

15 IMF CUTS THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES!- New law protects Good Samaritans- Disability leader pre ers 8b land tax- INOU says wealthy can pay 8billion

- Community Plat orms 4 Steps 2 Recovery

16 SUCCESS FOR WOMENS PROJECTS- Elva OCallaghan writes

17 INTERNATIONAL- Solicitors now siding with Communities

18-19 OPINION- Mary Murphy responds to criticism- Gerry McKeever reveals a ew home truths- Community Development book review

20 HORACE

- OUR GOOD NEWS CORRESPONDENT!

21 BALLYMUN MUSIC PROGRAMME- Over 1000 children have raised the ra ters- UK cuts to communities

22 REACHING MEN- CDPs and FRCs can do more or men- Mass rally in Dublin, November 27th

23 PROGRAMME NEWS:- Interview: Jerry Murphy, Pobal- NCDF press Minister Carey

24 BUDGET FACTS AND OPINIONS- Spectacle o Defance- Community cuts o 35m

3.4 million supports the work of 22 volunteer centres nationwide


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news

Pobal director Jerry Murphy has applauded the anti-racism work carriedout by community workers over anti- raveller websites (see pages 10-11)saying:

Tats the kind o work wed like to see supported strategically at localand national level. Community workers and the boards o LDCs have a

duty to con ront racism where they see it happening and are well placedto help vulnerable people stand up or their rights.Minister or Community, Equality and Gaeltacht A airs Pat Carey

had a similar view when he commented in the early Autumn on the story:Social networking sites have a responsibility to ensure that the plat ormsthey provide arent being abused. Racism should be con ronted howeverand wherever it mani ests itsel .

A call was made in November 2007 at a Pobal-organised con erenceon Realising Equality or the more widespread development o localintegration and anti-racism strategies at city and county level.

Saturdays historic Claiming Our Futureevent, the biggest Civil Society gig in theRepublic Ireland in a generation achieved itsaim o nding out what were FOR in a newIreland.

Te top 3 values a new Ireland needs toemphasise, according to the nal vote, are:

equality, environmental sustainability andaccountability.Organisers and indeed participants were

pleasantly surprised to see people valued theenvironment so highly. It was a mature choicto make, said one seasoned activist.

Also popular were policies leading to bettegovernance and a maximum wage as well asthe minimum wage.

More in o and reaction on: www.claimingour uture.ie and www.changingireland.ie

Also, see our interview with organiserSiobhan ODonohue on page 5.

150 or so people turned out in Galwayand up to 1500 in Dublin on Sept 29th,to De end Irelands Communities. Tecampaigners included people rom CDPsand LDCs.

In Galway, activists used street theatre toshow how community groups who worktogether are more likely to be success ul in

ending o attacks and cutbacks.Te trade unions SIP U and IMPAC

are supporting the De ending IrelandsCommunities campaign, as are theCommunity Workers Co-op, CommunityPlat orm among others.

Te organisers expected a bigger turnout.Changing Ireland posted a photo-

report rom the event in Galway on ourFacebook page.

Our duty to be anti-racist

Environment a winner in Claiming Our Future vote

Defending Irelands Communities

32m fund giving free training to job-seekers While the e ectiveness and cohesion o national economic policies arequestioned, there are in act a ra o minor initiatives aimed at boosting the economy.

Community and voluntary groups, and Local development companieshave yet to take ull advantage o these initiatives.

Many o them are unded under the 32m Labour Market ActivationFund which is to stimulate innovation in the provision o training andactivation measures or jobseekers seeking to upskill and get back into work.

It was launched in June.O 350 tenders received, 25 were selected, rom both private and public

bodies. Tese o er everything rom ree college places, to short termtraining in speci c skills, eg multimedia, tourism, green economy. For

urther in ormation on these, see the Department o Education andSkills, where a ull list o the initiatives can be downloaded.

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news Interview

5

Claiming Our Future

Funny that! Anglo Irish Bank hasnt a single ATM machine

I dont know 80% o the people in thisroom. Teres a new energy here, new

ideas, and I e been around a long time.

BY ALLEN MEAGHER

Siobhan ODonohue believes that Irelandselite should be nervous ollowing the biggest civil society gathering in ageneration. She was one o the organisersbehind Claiming Our Future, an event which took place on October 30th and which promises to give rise to a national movement or positive change.

Her upbeat attitude per ectly captured theatmosphere on the day. Tere was no need to ask her i she was optimistic. She beamed positivism.

While she couldnt ully explain why peopleno longer turned out en-masse or trade unionand community sector rallies and protests, she eltClaiming Our Future had lit a spark.

Te thousand seats at the event were quicklybooked, and we could easily have lled this hall twiceover.

Te event was not attended by all the usual suspects.Yes, there were activists, community workers and tradeunionists present, but also homeless people, business people, environmentalists, ordinary olk and somenationally known aces.

I dont know 80% o the people in this room.Teres a new energy here, new ideas, and Ive beenaround a long time, said Siobhan.

It seems to have lit a spark in peoples minds andhearts. oday were giving a space to people to talkabout what we actually want in the uture, to eelempowered, to eel they have a choice.

Te economy has collapsed, but society has notcollapsed and we need to x the economy to work inthe interests o society, not the other way around.

She said that, going back several years peopleand organisations like the Community Plat orm, IsFeidir Linn and the trade unions were saying that theeconomic model o development was undamentally

awed.Nonetheless she was surprised by the inability

o the Government to even consider alternatives toresolving the crisis. Tats deeply disappointing andthe people involved in organising this were doublymotivated to come together because theres so littlespace or interest given by the political parties to realalternatives.

I the organisers knew we were doomed, why didntthey start advocating ve years ago or a new Ireland? Why or instance didnt CDPs charged as they were with being a voice or the disadvantaged speak outloudly and collectively? Why are the Irish so slow!?

I dont know. Probably lots o reasons. People

ound it hard or a long time to believe that our voice would be heard. But the act is its happening now and thats why its so exciting. And its not justthe community sector here, weve the trade unionmovement, aith organisations, environmentalorganisations, business people. Tis is a civil societymovement.

Irelands elite should be nervous, she said, becauseClaiming Our Future is creating a critical mass o people who are agreeing a set o policy priorities and values which were going to take orward. We haventbeen allowed to engage in decision-making, up tonow.

She said democracy needs engaged citizens and now we have them.What makes Claiming Our Future di erent is

that its putting out an agenda FOR society and thats whats undamentally di erent to protest movements.

Now our challenge is to get a critical mass o people who are very clear what we are or and useevery means we can, obviously in non-violent ways, tobe heard. Te more people saying the same thing andbeing clear about the values and the policies we want,the more likely the message will be heard.

Did she personally think people should take legaldirect action?

I can understand why people engage in civildisobedience. Claiming Our Future is not advocating

breaking the law lets be clear. But i youre asking in my own personal capacity, have I done things thacome under the term civil disobedience, yes I have. tried stopping evictions at raveller sites, taking on tGardai to get them to think and to stop doing whattheyre doing.

Tere is a huge disillusionment with the waysociety is going and there is also disillusionment wiold tactics that dont actually change anything anduse up a lot o energy. What Claiming Our Futureis harnessing is that sense o the possible, actuallybelieving that change is possible. Were a icted inthis country because weve been kept away romchanging anything well what Claiming Our Futurshows is we can change things.

Te thousand people who attended on October30th pledged a number o things including getting ten more people each involved and their next move to develop Claiming Our Future as a movement atlocal level.

Weve got to keep this real or people where theat, added Siobhan.

Watch the video-interview via our website orour Youtube channel where youll also nd vox-popinterviews with participants who give their verdict a with Niamh McGrath who was the elephant in theroom.

More in ormation: www.claimingour uture.ie

We really lit a spark- Inter iew with Siobhan ODonohue, organiser

What makes Claiming Our Future di erent is that its putting out an agenda o society and thats whats undamentally di erent to protest movements.


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on the ground

CDPs employed approx 290 core staff in 2010 in 160 projects

Galways 3rd annual

intercultural day Galway City celebrated culturaldiversity with its third annualIntercultural estival and BarbecueCook O in September.

Galway City Partnership incollaboration with Galway InterculturalForum organised the event to build onthe successs o last years estival whichattracted over 4,000 people.

In other work, GCP recently produced a 50-page Directory o Services or Older People which isavailable locally and online.

And as part o its Social Inclusion Week, GCN highlighted the work and value o the Communty and VoluntarySectors output, which also eeds into itscampaign against cuts to communities.

W: www.gcp.ie

Kerry Travellers celebrate Killarneys raveller Community andKerry ravellers Development Projectheld a community celebration day onSeptember 26th in Killarney.

raveller Celebration Day was reeand was open to all. It was held tocelebrate and increase awareness around

raveller culture and to promoteinclusion by bringing the wholecommunity together through music,

un, and cultural and child- riendlyactivities.

Support: Te Social InclusionDivision o the Department o Community, Equality and GaeltachtA airs supported the community dayas part o its unding initiative or theEuropean Year or Combating Povertyand Social Exclusion (2010).

Edenderry

CDP honoured Te Edenderry CommunityDevelopment Project was honoured onOctober 2nd with Special Recognition

or its work with community groups inEdenderry, Co. O aly.

Te award to the CDP which isunder the auspices o O aly LocalDevelopment came through theEdenderry own Council Awards.

Edenderry CDP works with andsupports youth groups, older persons

groups, local authority residents groups,a local anti-drugs initiative, ethnicminorities, chairs the Cabin Committeeand supports the towns PlaygroundCommittee.

tKildare seeks Transgender peoples views County Kildare LEADER Partnershipis carrying out a consultation processacross County Kildare to develop athree-year workplan.

As a new company supporting individuals and groups throughoutCounty Kildare we want to identi ythe main issues o people among di erent social groups and geographicalcommunities are acing, said thecompany in a statement.

Currently, the CKLP is looking orransgender peoples views, having

success ully conducted two ocusgroups with lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

Addiction work in

Mayo and Roscommon Local Development Companies inMayo and Roscommon have teamed upto provide a specialist resource withinthe community in the area o substancemisuse.

A community worker is currentlybeing recruited to orge interagencycollaboration and joint initiatives ondrug abuse across the two counties.

Te project will examine the local

impact o substance misuse, help grouto prioritise needs and will raise

awareness on substance misuse issues.South West Mayo Development

Company in association with MayoNorth East LEADER Partnership,Roscommon Integrated DevelopmentCompany and the Western RegionDrugs ask Force are leading the work

For more in ormation: : 098-41950. E: n [email protected]

Pariicipants atthe Galway Inter Culture Day asfeatured on our fonrt cover in2008


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on the ground

State funding for voluntary and community groups was down -8% in 2009

Equality for Women funds 43 new projects

Monaghan IntegratedDevelopment is currently preparing to run anEmployability SkillsProgramme or women whoare out o (paid) work, leschool early or are otherwisemarginalised.

It is one o 43 projects acrossthe country bene tting rom unding o up to50,000 per year to help oster gender equality or

women through the delivery o practical customiseddevelopment supports.Te course in Monaghan, as elsewhere, is

aimed at those most distanced rom the labourmarket and will help participants to develop skills,competencies, con dence and knowledge to enteremployment, education or training.

Tere are 15 places available in Monaghanand the work is being unded under one o threestrands in the EUs Equality or Women Measure(EWM) in this case the Access to Employmentstrand. Te other strands are: Developing FemaleEntrepreneurship and Career Development or Women in Employment.

Te latest phase o the Equality or WomenMeasure 2010-2013 was ofcially launched byMary White, Minister o State or Equality,Integration and Human Rights in May. Te EWMis promoted as a positive action programme and is part- nanced by the European Social Fund.

Monaghan Integrated Development was set upin late 2008 as part o the process o restructuring o the local development sector nationally. Its core role,as with other LDCs, is to promote social inclusion,support enterprise development and employmentcreation, enable access to education, training and li elong learning and assist communities inidenti ying needs and developing local solutions.

More in o on the course in Monaghan rom local

project leader, Una Gavigan.E: [email protected] in o on the EWM nationally rom: www.

pobal.ie

Moyross has positive hit on the net A year ago, the rst ten items that came up in a Google search or Moyross were all negative incharacterising the estate solely in terms o criminality and gangs.

Now a new website called Moyross.ie is listed at number two in Googles listings or the area.Te website was ofcially launched along with an accompanying blog in July by the Minister or

Community, Equality and Gaeltacht A airs, Pat Carey. He also launched Changing Irelands Youtchannel which passed the 10,000 viewer-mark in July (and is now approaching 14,000 views).

Te Moyross website and blog are supported by the locally-based Changing Ireland project.Te website builds on the popularity o the local newsletter Moywrites produced by the Comm

Development Network Moyross and utilises at no extra cost the I skills and media expertise o Ireland sta .

Meanwhile, work by the PAUL Partnership is ongoing to develop an integrated website or comgroups across Limerick City www.limerickcommunities.ie and Moyross.ie will in time becomelinked with this.

ILDN train 30 people in mapping In September, the Irish Local Development Network (ILDN) organised training or 30 sta in LoDevelopment Companies (LDCs) in how to use strategic mapping tools to help their companies t prioritise where they invest most o their time, energy and resources.

Te ILDN, the umbrella body or the 52 LDCs, establishing the online planning tool (though CFunding). Tey began with a pilot in Bally ermot, Dublin and are expanding nationwide with the

Its a use ul tool or strategic planning purposes, in preparing the plans or as well as or strategic plan, said Brian Carty o the ILDN.

Te 2011 data rom the CSO will be added to the maps whats there already is a building bloc

will stay relevant or companies serving communities.In all, 38 LDCs have voluntarily signed up to use the online mapping tool and as Brian says, thto bring the others into the old.

Te training took place, aptly, in the Digital Hub, Dublin 8. W: www.planet.ie (temporary site) : 01-4600091. E; [email protected]

Wellness Workshops Want to learn what it is that creates your mood?

Want to learn how to take control o your busy li e?

Want to learn how to treat yoursel to you time or a minute or two throughout your day?

Want to learn how to identi y the supports that areall around you?

The Wellness Workshop is a day flled with practical and easy to usetips and strategies that will equip you to take responsibility or your own mental health. This day which comes at no fnancial cost to you and will be well worth your investment o time as you will hear lived li e experiences that will help youchange your li e or good.

As part o the See Change programmethis workshop will be coming to avenue in your county soon.

For details call !890-577577 or email [email protected]

Workshops are unded by Voda oneFoundation Ireland.

Te Mid-Wests second annual Service o Commemoration and Hope was held on October7th in the Augustinian Church in Limerick city.

Te event was to remembering our lovedones lost through drug and alcohol misuse and tosupport the amilies le behind and was attendedby workers and amily alike.

It was organised by Northstar Family SupportProject which was set up by local people withsupport rom the CDN Moyross which is parto the Local and Community DevelopmentProgramme. Northstar became an independent project in September 2010.

Northstars name was chosen by activists romLimericks northside and stands or Nurturing Our Rights Trough Having Support, raining,

Access, & Resources.Check out the video we shot on the night on

our Youtube channel which eatures a rendition o Something Inside So Strong.

Drug victims remembered in uplifting ceremony


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Jobs, Training and Business Start-Ups news

8.State funding for voluntary and community groups was down -10% in 2010

By Gearoid Fitzgibbon

Its a telling sign to see over 200 peoplelled the newly-re urbished Arts Centrein Nenagh to attend an event on workexperience opportunities, in other words workthat in many instances goes without pay.

Te Work Experience Opportunitiesevent was held on November 9th by Northipperary LEADER Partnership (N LP)

to boost participation in the FAS and BeginAgain work experience programmes becausetake-up o these programmes had been lowamong both jobseekers and employers.

Working or ree is certainly not suitableor everyone, however there are cases where

experience can give a jobseeker that edge when

looking or work.Like many other community development

groups, N LP is looking to support localresponses to the economic downturn.According to economic programmes manager,Sean Crowley, Tere is a real need to change

the national narrative o doom and gloom andemployers should take a closer look at these work experience initiatives. Tey can boosttheir businesses while giving jobseekers anopportunity to regain their con dence, andbroaden their experience.

Participants need to be ully in ormed abouthow the programme works, as well as thecompany that they are joining.

Social Programmes Manager Michelle Putticommented: Tis initiative was a real teame ort done with Social Protection, FAS, andN LP sta , and unded under the LCDP programme. We advertised the event widelyon local radio, newspapers, and social media.One local employer sponsored the design o the yer.

While a lot o individual initiatives exist,its not a political comment to state that thereis a lack o coherent policies on the economyat national level. Te huge turnout in Nenaghshows that people are really looking orleadership and options.

* Gearid Fitzgibbon is adevelopment of cer with NTLP and writes for Changing Ireland.

FAS Work Placement Programme one countys experience

People will work without pay for experience

BACKGROUND: The FAS Work PlacementProgramme is a Government

supported programme that bringsemployers and jobseekers together for a work experience placementfor a maximum duration of ninemonths.

The Work Placement Programmeoffers jobseekers, includingunemployed graduates, theopportunity to obtain quality workexperience. Programme participantswill retain their welfare payments andentitlements.

W: www.fas.ie

Community Work Programme 2 pilot schemes begin Communities may get a sudden influx of help Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Minister, Pat Carey,recently advised o an audience in Cork to prepare or a bin ux o people rom January as a new community workscheme gets into gear.

Te proposed new Community Work Programme is bein piloted by Westmeath Community Development and DublinNorthside Partnership.

Modelled on the existing Rural Social Scheme (principalor small armers) the new scheme will recruit people ro

the live register to carry out 19.5 hours/week work withcommunity organisations in return or basic payments thatcome on top o their social wel are payments.

It is unclear yet how it will be administered, though it womake sense to use the existing Rural Social Scheme structuLocal development companies will need to source commungroups with the extra work and capacity to manage urther

Re erring to the rehousing o work schemes under therevamped Department o Social Protection, economic programmes manager with North ipperary LEADER Partnership, Sean Crowley, said, While an expandedcommunity work programme would be very welcome, havmultiple schemes seems unnecessarily complex, especially

that they are all under the one department.It is understood the rollout o the programme nationally currently on hold while the schemes details are negotiated wtrade unions.

Labour Market Activation Programmes: Begin Again in 12 weeks Begin Again is a 12-week work placement and training programme that allows companies take onunemployed professionals to drive speci c projectsthat they may be otherwise unable to afford.

The participant bene ts from the experience and the one-to-one mentoring and classroom training.

Community and voluntary groups, and Local development companies have yet to take full advantage of this initiative.

Begin Again is funded under the Labour Market Activation Fund and is as open to community groups to apply as it is to any employer.

See www.beginagain.ie to apply online.

Green Works upskills people for green economy Green Works o ers courses to upskill people to the green economy. Tese courses, ree or anyoneover three months unemployed, are o ered in our hubs in Cork, Dublin, Sligo and ipperary.

Again, Green Works is unded under the Labour Market Activation Fund and is as open tocommunity groups to apply as it is to any employer.

For more details please consult the website: www.green-works.ie


9/24

Jobs, Training and Business Start-Upsnews

9.25,000 houses have been covered by the Warmer Homes Scheme

INTRODUCTION There are a range of programmes aimed at nding peopleemployment that are available nationally through theLocal and Community Develoapment Programme. Thefollowing sample shows how they aim to support the most

marginalised of unemployed people in particular.

Donegal: LDC started 153+ businesses in 11 months Apart rom a mini-boom in the building trade Donegal bene ted

little rom the boom times and now most o theconstruction workers are unemployed and therural areas they come rom are hurting as a result.

In recent months, the Donegal LocalDevelopment Company prepared plans torespond to the challenge and in September itlaunched a six-week programme/course or

ormer builders aimed at nding them new employment.Dr. Caoimhin MacAoidh, CEO o the the DLCC, said the

construction sector had became a signi cant employer and thecompany needed to respond.

Te result is a pilot programme called the Labour ActivationProject and it has attracted considerable interest locally.

Fi een unemployed people, all o them men, have now signed upor the course which:- o ers con dential one-to-one personal assistance to help

people re- ocus on their path in li e.- includes a combination o action learning and one-to-one

sessions aimed at engaging participants, improving their sel -con dence and empowering them to make positive choices.

- will help them to update work-based skills, improve theirtness and well-being, participate in skills training and explore

employment opportunities.

Te course is a pilot and i success ul will be expanded. It wasdeveloped by project ofcer Aisling Sharkey to suit participantsindividual needs and runs over 8 weeks into December.

DLDC has a good track record in working with theunemployed, in particular helping them set up their own businessand providing sel -development support/training. It has helpedcreate 153 amily-based businesses so ar this year through the Backto Work Enterprise Allowance Scheme.

For more in ormation, contact Aisling on 074 9127056.E: [email protected] DLDC is part o the national Local and Community

Development Programme which is managed by Pobal on behal o the Department o Community Equality and Gaeltacht A airs.

Avondhu: supporting jobless people with mental health difficulties In North County Cork, the Avondhu-Blackwater Partnershipis running a programme or unemployed people eeling isolated, lacking con dence, (who are) long-term unemployed, with a particular ocus on those who su er rom mental healthdifculties.

Te Elevate raining Programme will among other things help people to identi y their personal occupation requirements and the pathways to achieving them.

It is being delivered through training, guidance and support and will cover li e skills, computers, career planning and much more.

It runs rom this November to June 2011. All participants on the programme must be in receipt o a social wel are payment or mustbe the dependent o a social wel are recipient.

More in o rom: Veronica Gubbins. : 025-33411.E: [email protected] W: www.avondhublackwater.com (also on Facebook andwitter)

Galway: from beauty to business courses Galway City Partnership is running intensive three-day Start Your Own Business Courses as well as a jobs club, and advice and support or people out o work through its Local Employment Service.

Te service is promoted under the titleOpportunities in an Economic Downturn.

Te company is also running a programme to helpunemployed women nd work or start their ownbusinesses, beginning with taster courses in beautyand nutrition, photography, basic computers and jewellery making.

Tis latter work is unded through the Equality or Women Measure which sees 43 new projects launched this year across the country ( osee page 16 ).

For more in ormation, call Charlie Currie ( : 091-773466 or email: [email protected] ( : 091-773466 or e-mail: [email protected])

W: www.gcp.ie

Clondalkin: also preparing people for business CPLN Area Partnership in CountyDublin are recruiting or a Business Studiescourse due to start in January and ratedFE AC 5 level. Its aimed at people who areunemployed or three or more months.

Te course covers customer service,communication, business calculations andincludes a 3-week work placement so you canapply your skills in a work environment tohelp gain the experience to get back into the work orce. : 01-4508748. W: www.cpln.ie

Laois: support for food business start-ups Laois Partnership began a new FoodEnterprise Development raining Programme in October. It is aimed at peoplelooking into setting up or developing theirown ood business. Te training was to runover 6 evening sessions.

W: www.laoispartnership.ie

Te summer edition o Changing Irelandreported on how the Northside Partnershipin Dublin was really getting people back to work.

It highlighted a highly success ul Preparing or Business course run by the Partnership

which has so ar this year helped 146unemployed people to set up their own smallbusinesses.

Te training programmes continue to

be hugely success ul, e ective and popular,reported Cepta Dowling in mid-October.Since January weve now met with and

advised 413 enterprise clients and 146 o them have progressed to starting their ownbusinesses.

Tats an additional 48 businesses set upin north Dublin since we last spoke to Ceptain July.

We continue to o er the training programme to all; were hal -way through onat the moment and hope to run another twobe ore years end, she said.

Interviews with Cepta, the courseacilitator Orla OCarroll and a participant

Kevin Hendrick rom Coolock are available

online at: www.youtube.com/user/changingirelando contact the Partnership, call 01-

8485630. W: www.northsidepartnership.ie/

n e ws

146 jobs and more on the way on Dublins northside


10/2410

ANTI-RACISM FOLLOW-UP

SM FOLLOW-UP

Over 1000 people a week apply to the Warmer Homes Scheme

ALLEN MEAGHER REPOR S

AGarda investigation iscontinuing into threehome-grown, racist hate-sites on Facebook thatattracted close to 10,000 membersbe ore they were shut down during thesummer.

Te story was highlighted on theront cover o the summer edition o

this magazine and led to hundreds o people making complaints, including a second complaint rom Pavee Pointand another rom the Kerry ravellersDevelopment Project which identi edsome o the culprits.

Te campaign to shut down the sites was initially led by community workers.

Te sites were vile, dangerous andunacceptable, said Martin Collins o Pavee Point. It needs to be stopped, itneeds to be eradicated.

Gardai have con rmed that les arecurrently being prepared or the DPPand the Facebook company and a smallnumber o individuals may soon acecharges under the Incitement to HatredAct.

I Fucking Hate Knackers hadover 300 members, another site alledPromote Te Use O Knacker BabiesAs Bait had 664 members and thebiggest one called Set Aside MondayA ernoons o Hunt Knackersattracted over 8000 people to join.

In August, Sargeant DaveMcInerney, the head o the GardaRacial and Intercultural Ofce (GRIO) warned that everyone who joined racist websites was open to prosecution. Hehas since told us, It wont be tolerated,theres no excuse or racism and i anyone isnt getting the service they

expect rom their local Garda station,they should come directly to me andthey will be looked a er. Id be very vigorous about this and senior ofcerstake this most seriously.

He said our coverage generated anamazing response and his ofce andlocal Garda stations around the countryreceived hundreds o phone callcomplaints.

We had two days o non-stop calls.Some people took grave exception tothe websites and they werent ravellersthemselves. Members o other ethnicminorities also rang to nd out abouthow to make complaints over racismtowards them.

As ar as we understand, ormal written complaints in relation tothose behind the anti- raveller sites were lodged in Garda stations inCork, Water ord, Galway, Dublin

and Kerry and an independent sourcehas in ormed us that a le is almostcertainly going to the DPP in relationto at least one o the cases.

I prosecutions ollow, it would bethe rst time online racism has led to acourt case in Ireland.

In other jurisdictions, online racismis viewed most seriously. In November,in Leeds, England, a man who postedracist videos on Youtube and pleadedguilty to ve o ences under the PublicOrder Act was jailed or 15 months.

In the course o Changing Irelandsown ongoing investigation weve also

ound that people with disabilities areo en the targets o bigots among thegeneral public.

Following an incident in County Wicklow, a number o people may acecharges. a er lming a man with an

intellectual disability alling in a public place and distributing the video bymobile phone.

Tis was but one o a number o incidents o harassment o people withdisabilities we were made aware o .

Tank ully, the GRIO now hasresponsibility or challenging criminaldiscrimination under any o the ninegrounds under which people are protected. While he holds the ofce inhigh esteem, the GRIO is according to Martin Collins extremely under-resourced and has su ered rom ahigh sta turnover which has e ectedoperations.

Martin described our hate-crimelegislation as cumbersome andunclear and has called on theGovernment to introduce legislation tomake it easier to get convictions in the

court: Te Department o Justice hasbeen reviewing the law on incitementto hatred or the last ve or six years. Well, they need to get their nger out.

He added that racism againstravellers should not be seen as just

a raveller problem: Racism has the potential to destabilise any society.

Meanwhile, on what seems to be a positive note, the latest ofcial gures

or racist crime in Ireland showed aall, con ounding the usual expectation

o a rise in bigotry and racism during recession.

Te gures only account orrecorded crime.

Contact in o: Garda Racial &Intercultural Unit

: 01-6663150/3817.E: [email protected]

Prohibition of Incitement To Hatred Act,1989

he Prohibition o Incitement to Hatred Act 1991 criminalises incitemeto hatred on grounds on race, colour, religion, ethnic or national origin,

membership o the ravelling community and sexual orientation. Te law st Actions likely to stir p hatred:It shall be an o ence or a person

( a ) to publish or distribute written material,( b ) to use words, behave or display written material

(i) in any place other than inside a private residence, or(ii) inside a private residence so that the words, behaviour or mate

are heard or seen by persons outside the residence,or

( c ) to distribute, show or play a recording o visual images or sounds, i written material, words, behaviour, visual images or sounds, as the cabe, are threatening, abusive or insulting and are intended or, having rto all the circumstances, are likely to stir up hatred.

Gardai investigating racist websites


11/2411

ANTI-RACISM FOLLOW-UP

Fuel poverty = spending more than 10% of household income to stay warm

LETTER Being anti-Traveller in Ireland is NOT Acceptable By Mary Boyne

Having read issue 33 o changing Ireland CommunityActivists Shut Down Facebook Hate Sites I wasdisgusted to learn that up to 10,000 people joined 3Facebook sites dedicated to hate towards the ravelling community,the more I read the more o ended I got. My blood boiled.

I know discrimination is bad and very bad, but it hit like a daggerto my heart a er reading that the administrators o the web sitePromote the use o Knacker Babies or Bait are my neighbours andare living here in Killarney. I was stunned to know that these peopleare living without the ear o consequences, while my community,

the travelling people, are a raid to let their children out o theirsight.A er all one site suggests setting aside Monday a ernoons to

hunt knackers with our Killarney neighbour commenting that heneeds a gun with never ending bullets, who wouldnt be in ear. What has the world come to? Tis has made me wonder about what kind o society I am bringing my children up in.

Tis is compounded by the act that members rom all walkso li e are not ashamed to join these sites ranging rom secondaryschool students to UCD business and law students, to people in thetourism industry.

Te act that there was still one Facebook site up and running until 2 weeks ago, I Hate Fucking Knackers a er a campaign o 8months to close it down, shows me that I live in a country that viewshatred and discrimination against ravellers as acceptable. Being anti- raveller in Ireland is an acceptable norm.

How are we as ravellers to grow as a community and as a people,in a world that allows people to reely speak so vilely and hate ullyagainst us saying such things as they should all be shot in their

ucking ugly inbred aces, Who would believe that in the times welive, in our society, discrimination is as widespread as ever.

It has made me think maybe Durkheim was right there isone law or the rich and another or the poor; or a society thatlegitimises divisions between rich and poor on the ground thatanyone can succeed i they try hard enough, yet systematicallydiscriminates against some groups so they can never succeed nomatter how hard they try. Will ravellers ever be treated airly, oreven as human beings?

So tell me, will justice be served? Will these people who created

and joined the anti- raveller Facebook sites be made accountableor the vile and o ensive hatred they displayed so reely? Who willanswer or this? Will it be the discriminators who set up the sites, will it be Facebook who allowed the sites to exist, our society andinstitutions where discrimination is allowed, or our government who places a blind eye at the seriousness o discrimination againsttravellers in this country. Will it be brushed under the carpet likemany other orms o discrimination against ravellers? Id liketo think not!!! We as an Irish society should stand rm togetherto abolish all orms o discrimination against all minority groups within our country, we need to take a stand and make it ourbusiness to see that all members o Facebook who participated inthese hate web sites be reported and prosecuted.

- Mary Boyne is a member o the voluntary managementcommittee o the Kerry ravellers Development Project, one o approximately 20raveller projects in the Local and CommunityDevelopment Programme.

COMBATING RACISM: Editors Comment It inspires hope to see that so many people became pro-active and madecomplaints about the anti- raveller websites which were on Facebookuntil recently.

Many ordinary rank and le Gardai are as outraged by racism ascommunity workers. Tey o course work within a system where the lawcannot always provide the justice that people desire. Nevertheless, a dozenor so prosecutions have taken place under the Incitement to Hatred Act inthe years since it was introduced and cases can also be taken under the publorder acts to combat racism and discrimination.

As we went to press, the DPP had yet to receive a le in relation to the ne10,000 people who set up or connected to the vile anti- raveller Facebooksites. However, les are expected to be sent to the DPP shortly.

As Martin Collins told us, even i there is a court case but no conviction, would send out a strong message to others to beware that racism will not betolerated. Needless to say, he hopes there will be convictions.

Our hope generally is that more and more people will take action tocombat racism, which helps build the movement or a more equal Ireland.Interestingly, you dont have to belong to a minority group that is targeted

by bigots or racists to take o ence. Anyone can complain.Across the water, British police take racist crime very seriously.Meanwhile, Irish society already owes a debt o gratitude to those who

have lodged complaints about the recently exposed online racism and who will not stand or it.

On our end, within the Local and Community Development Programme,it is important or us to look at how we can build the Programmes capacityto directly challenge racism online and within communities. Water ordcommunity worker Emma Maguire who spearheaded the challenge in thisinstance alongside Pavee Point could be consulted.

- ALLEN MEAGHER

Roscommon marks Combating Poverty year Many community groups have held events to mark the European Year orCombating Poverty and Social Exclusion.

For instance, on Monday, October 18th, Roscommon Womens Networkheld an a ernoon o music, storytelling, mime, art and poetry. Admission was ree and the event was held in association with RAPID Athlone and theREAD Centre in Roscommon.


12/2412.60,000 Irish households live in persistent fuel poverty

Positive action was taken in Bray, Co. Wicklow and Dun Laoghaire, Co.Dublin, recently a er two cases o hate crime occurred in the space o one week, reports Allen Meagher.

Te rst victim, a man with cerebral palsy, was lmed accidentally alling to theground in a public place in Bray. Te video was widely distributed locally by mobile phone and the victim became extremelydistressed and complained to the Gardai who tracked down the people responsible.

A disability sector worker toldChanging Ireland the victim was reallyimpressed with the swi Garda actionin this instance and that the Gardai ullyunderstood the powers they have to arrestand charge people under the Incitement toHatred Act.

In the second case, a number o peoplein Dun Laoghaire set up a Facebook sitededicated to cataloguing the day-to-dayappearances in public o a local man with a mild intellectual disability. Tey

photographed and publicly ridiculed theman, ocusing on things like the manner in which he walked.

Complaints were made directly toFacebook and the site was eventuallyremoved.

We were completely horri ed to hearthat people in Bray could behave like this,said Des North, programme manager with St. John o Gods S EP programme which provides support to adults with mildintellectual disabilities.

Des knows the victims, both o whom wish to remain anonymous.

Te man who was videoed alling was very upset. He likes being out and aboutin his local community and the video-recording had an enormous impact on

him, he was extremely distressed. But he wasnt slow about going to the police. Hetook a leadership role there or people withintellectual disabilities.

For us as a disability organisation,this was a rst. Were glad action wastaken because i people dont stand up

or themselves, this keeps going on. Telaws are there or a reason and this kind o behaviour isnt a joke.

Te man who was a victim o videobullies who recorded him alling toldChanging Ireland he hopes thoseresponsible are prosecuted.

I went to my solicitor, he told me togo to the Gardai and I did. Tey were veryhelp ul, he said.

While he did not wish to be publiclyidenti ed, he urged people to stand up orthemselves and or each other and to reportsuch crimes when they take place.

CDPs UPDATE Where CDPs now stand

The Local and Community Development Programmewas instigated at the beginning of this year andmost CDPs we dont yet know the nal tally are onschedule to amalgamate their work with that of the LocalDevelopment Company in their area by years end.

At the same time, quite a number of projects proposedalternative models and negotiated successfully in anumber of instances with the Department of Community,Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs.

While most of the 160 CDPs are on course to fullyor partially amalgamate with the Local DevelopmentCompany in their area/county, the following exceptionswill apply:

13 SPECIAL PROJECTS From the outset, 13 projects with special responsibility,national roles or providing unique services were allowedto continue independently. Changing Ireland was among

them and is the only one that needed to establish itself as an independent not-for-pro t company, which it isdoing. Other examples include the Mens DevelopmentNetwork.

5 CORK AND KERRY PROJECTS In counties Cork and Kerry, where there are over 20CDPs, ve of them are moving to HSE funding and willnot be part of the LCDP, but will continue in existence.

DUBLINS INNER CITY In Dublin, where funding was withdrawn to the DublinInner City Partnership and amalgamation thereforebecame impossible, the CDPs will continue to operatewith direct support and funding from the LCDP via Pobal.

SIX IN LIMERICK Six CDPs in Limerick city are amalgamating to becomeone company, to be known in future as Limerick CityCDP.

Note: Documentation on how the plan to amalgamateLimerick CDPs was published on our website during thesummer.

17 WOMENs CDPs 17 Womens CDPs are amalgamating and will operateas one company under the LCDP.

For more, read Elva O Callaghans account on page16. Elva works with the National Womens Collectivewhich is central to the merger.

TRAVELLER CDPs The Traveller CDP Network (representing 17 Traveller CDPs) has recently submitted revised proposals for integration of Traveller CDPs within the LCDP. Twodifferent alternative models are proposed and theTraveller Network has asked that both are given equalconsideration. It is expected that a decision will be madeon the preferred model shortly.

OTHER CDPs A small number of (mostly large) CDPs, many of whomreceive 85% or more of their funding from sources other than the LCDP may continue to operate, though under new arrangements (still being negotiated) as part of theLCDP.

INDEPENDENT CDPs Some projects have declined to become part of theProgramme and will continue on independently as localcommunity development projects.

A full list of where each CDP is now, depending onthe path chosen, will be published in the next edition of Changing Ireland.

People with disabilities take on video-bullies Gardai take action

newsanti-racism follow-up

Promoting disability awareness pays off, says KNPD Here at the Kerry Network o People with Disabilities, un or-tunately some o our members have expe-rienced similar harassment and prejudice,reports project co-ordinator MargaretOShea. She was writing in reaction to ournews o disability discrimination in Bray

and Dun Laoghaire.What has worked well or us is advocatestackling these people directly and getting back up and support where needed romthe Community Gardai. o be air the Gardai in ralee have been very supportive and aware.From our point o view we have alwaysinvolved the greater community in disabil-ity/equality awareness, and it has paid o .Promoting disability awareness in schoolsalso helps, added Margaret.Te KNPD is part o the Local and Com-munity Development Programme.


13/2413.

Programme update / NEWS

2,500 homes were disconnected from electricity between Jan-Sept

Minister Carey on CDPs In relation to the evolution o the CDPs. I am notattempting to snu out or to undermine any o the excellent work which is being done the lengthand breadth o this country by CDPs and by otherorganisations, Minister Carey told an audience o community workers in Limerick some months ago. Imanxious that we work together to develop a process o Community Development that stands the test o time.

What we are trying to do is help to re-boot, re-imagine and be more creative in the ways that weundertake development initiatives. As long as Im going to be around, Im more interested in what we do and inthe way it e ects people on the ground, than I am in thearchitecture thats there to develop it.

48 companies now have websites Tere are 52 Local Development Companies withinthe Programme and all but our have websites (whichthey say are currently under construction).

Te majority o the 48 existing LDC websites areuser- riendly and laid out in a way that makes themeasily accessible to members o the public. Many o them are key websites or their area used requently bythe public, as indeed are quite a number o the CDP websites that the Programme now encompasses.

In the case o three LDCs, however, contactin ormation is poor or completely absent, meaning thatthe public cannot see who is responsible or running the company or which sta members to contact about particular local services.

Tat is a completely inappropriate approach to animportant communications tool and part o our role isto up standards on issues like that, said Jerry Murphy,Pobals programme manager.

Asked did he believe board members namesbe published on company websites, he said: Itssomething we do. I youre a board member, it shouldbe publicly available in ormation. I cant imagine theresany reason o con dentially. While I cant say weve ever

told companies to do something like that, we probablyshould have. Its something well ollow up.Changing Ireland is shortly to upload a ull

Programme map which the sta are designing so peoplenationwide can link to any LDC or other company within the Programme at the click o a button. It will be up-to-date and will include all the companies

unded under the Programme.Our thanks to everyone who has helped us gather

up-to-date in ormation and please dont be shy o pointing out any errors weve made ourselves. Wereopen to pointers on how we can develop the website orother online material to help promote the work carriedout under the Programme, said editor Allen Meagher.

Changing Ireland is also preparing to publishan online national email/contact list o sta andboard members within the Programme, something itbelieves will be a valuable resource to people within theProgramme and outside.

W: www.changingireland.ie

Skiploads o ood are dumped in Irelandevery evening by supermarkets, bakeriesand restaurants while amilies go hungry,because companies ear i they donate ood past its sell-by date they could be open to prosecution.Soon the ear will be negated, due to a promised change in the laws that will also boost volunteering.Te common perception is i you help out, you might just be leaving yoursel opento prosecution since volunteers and goodSamaritans have no legal protection, unlike inmany other countries.No case has ever been taken against a goodSamaritan who inadvertently caused harm,according to the Law Re orm Commission, butit nevertheless called last year or the passing o alaw to clari y the situation.Tat law is now midway through the legislative process and could be enacted be ore Christmas.It wont cost the country anything and willmake li e easier or volunteers and communityorganisations.Te new legislation is included within the CivilLaw (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010 whichhad reached committee stage in the Dail as we went to press and which has cross-party support.Basically, it protects rom liability personsinvolved in voluntary work or charitableor other purposes or the bene t o society,including sports, recreation and rescue.Numerous reports had highlighted the ear o litigation as a deterrent to voluntary work and

it put people o intervening in an emergency,be it in a ood situation or at the scene o a roadcrash. Te ear actor also made the insurancecosts or community groups with de brillators

unnecessarily high.Minister or Community, Equality andGaeltacht A airs, Pat Carey, said the new provisions will help protect volunteers andgood Samaritans rom incurring liability whileengaged in charitable works or assisting others ingood aith.It is essential that those who give o their timeto help others in a sel ess and voluntary mannerdo not ear legal repercussions. In the currentclimate, it is vital that we encourage activecitizenship and volunteering and protect thosethat partake in such activities, he added. Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said recently:In addition to the provisions o the Civil Law(Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, I recentlycommenced section 90 o the Charities Act2009, which will urther help to sa eguard the position o those charity trustees who ul l theirduties with integrity, but who still may be liable

or court proceedings.Section 90 o the Charities Act grants power tothe courts, in the event o proceedings againsta charity trustee, to grant relie to such trustees

rom personal liability or breach o trust, whereit appears to the relevant court that the trusteeacted honestly and reasonably.

Minister Ahern said he hoped that thecombined sa eguards o the Civil Law(Miscellaneuos Provisions) Bill 2010 and theCharities Act 2009 will reassure those whoare currently acting as charity trustees and willencourage more people to take on this valuableand important work.Earlier this year, Fine Gael D, Billy immons,spoke about the good Samaritans bill (as it isbeing called): I rmly believe it will save livesand urther promote active citizenship.Te people protected under the law are those who act voluntarily and without expectation o payment or other reward. Welcoming what he termed a legislative shield

or good Samaritans, Labours Pat Rabitte saidnobody opposed it.Te only losers are insurance companies whomay come under pressure to drop their prices

or community groups, or example those with de brillators, in recognition o the lowerlikelihood o litigation.Incidentally, the law or good Samaritan work varies rom one country to another. In France,citizens are legally obliged to help when theycome across an accident. In Italy, to do so is acrime.Note: Te Civil Law (Miscellaneuos Provisions)Bill 2010 will also change the law in relation tothe Equality Acts, human trafcking, legal aid,the payment o maintenance, private securityservices and the sale o alcohol.

New law to protect volunteers and Good Samaritans - only losers will be insurance companies


14/2414

Resource Page

Itll cost you 400 to reconnect if youve been cut off by the ESB

Whos yer wan think she is? isa common enough attitude volunteers ace when they givetime to represent their area on a committee.O en it is the same people who again and again

serve on committees and other residents rom

time to time - I speak rom experience - expressingratitude and are downright suspicious.Part o the problem is that representatives are

usually unelected.However, the mistrust can be addressed i local

people are able to truly represent the views o peoplerom their area and have easy ways o reporting back

on their voluntary work.In Cork, the issues were identi ed as a challenge

some years ago and a plethora o people and agencies went to work to tackle the problem head on.

On the agencies side, they o en struggled to ndsolid representation. .

Te result is two booklets that i ollowedstep-by-step will markedly improve the levels o representation and consultation.Te booklets are called oolkits or CommunityRepresentation and Community Consultation andthey were launched on October 29th by Minister

or Community, Equality and Gaeltacht A airs, PatCarey.

Te booklets were designed or the communitysector in Cork but have nationwide application.

Te guidebook on the subject o representationgives advice on the role o representing a groupand outlines ways o achieving e ective communityrepresentation by having clarity o roles and

unctions and providing e ective eedback.It also sets out the role o the host organisation

and how it should support the communityrepresentative.Te second toolkit on consultation sets out

the important principles which should guide athe process, gives tips on preparation, the role o a

acilitator, details o working methods and details urther reading.* At the launch, Minister Carey praised the

e orts o the group and added that Communityrepresentation is critical or preserving community participation, adding that communities are bestserved when all sectors, community and state, worktogether.

* Te toolkits and other initiatives were workedon by a steering sroup o representatives rom CorCity Partnership, Community DevelopmentProjects, Cork City Council, the City Communityand Voluntary Forum and community associations.

* Te other initiatives include the development oa community website, supporting local newsletterssupporting the development o communityassociations and a project to encourage volunteerinat local level.

Te toolkits work was unded by MinisterCareys Department.

* Lord Mayor o Cork Cllr Michael OConnellsaid the kits will be o long term-bene t tocommunity groups and activists.

* Anne OSullivan, CEO o Cork CityPartnership, said the work showed everyonescommitment to real improvement in community participation and representation in Cork city.

* Viv Sadd o Cork City CommunityDevelopment Projects said it was a great example agencies working together with practical outcomes

or the bene t o the community.* Te toolkits idea came rom a series o

recommendations rom an Exodea researchreport titled Improving Local and Community

Development Structures and Programmes which was published two years ago.A limited number o the toolkits are available

(without charge) rom Con ODonnell at Cork CityCouncil. : 021-4924101.

ADVERTISE WITH US!IN THE COUNTRYS MOST WIDELY

READ COMMUNITY & VOLUNTARYSECTOR MAGAZINE

Changing Irelands is themost popular magazinein Irelands Community

and Voluntary Sector andhas a readership of up to

15,000 people for its printedquarterly publication.

Changing Ireland has alsobuilt up a considerable onlinefollowing via youtube (13,000views and rising), facebook,

blogger and its website:www.changingireland.ie

The project is 9 years old andis now taking advertising.

COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING RATESNB: Not-for-pro ts get a discount of

up to 35% on the following rates:1/6th page 1891/4 page 3091/2 page 599

Contact info: T 061-458090 (admin,Mon-Wed). T: 061-458011 (editor).E: [email protected] or

[email protected]

NOTE: Our readers are drawnfrom to name some, but notall Community DevelopmentProjects, Local DevelopmentCompanies (aka Partnership

or Leader companies), FamilyResource Centres, community

policing units, elected TDs, Senatorsand MEPs, students of community

development and relatedcourses (eg youthwork, drugs

work), university libraries, city andcounty enterprise boards, disabilityorganisations, NGOs, UN agencies,

trade unions, national umbrellabodies, state agencies including

Pobal and others, the mainstreammedia, RAPID, CLAR, and other

programmes.

The magazine also goes directly tothe homes of hundreds of CommunityDevelopment workers and volunteerswho have subscribed independently

over the years.

Real community representation: Cork produces the goods - Toolkits for community reps published and ready-to-use


15/2415

Drastic Cuts: Alternatives for the IMF/EU!

4,000 homes were disconnected from gas between Jan-Sept

Ibelieve a 5 land tax per acreregardless o the quality o the

land could yield a massive 8 billion per year straight into the co ers o Government, says Noel ONeill,chairperson o the Kerry Network o People with Disabilities.

He argues that the poor cant payor the banks collapse, but others can.

While his gures dont ully stack up(his scheme would bring in millionsrather than billions going by eagasc

gures) he makes the point that thereis untapped wealth in this country.

Tere are two armers in North

Kildare that I know personally eachhad well in excess o 2,000 acres o land and they were getting huge sumso money in subsidies rom the EUand Government o this country.

He said these two men employedtop class accountants and both admitto paying very little tax. Tey enjoyedgoing to the pub to boast wheneverthey bought up another arm.

Noel says armers he has spokento agree with him on his land tax proposal.

Condemning cronyism in thiscountry, he advises the Government to

go a er those who can pay and leavethe poor alone.

o read the KNPDs views on theupcoming budget visit our blog or

Facebook page and click on the link.Te KNPD is one o 160

Community Development Projectsthat are part o the LCDP. Te

project is currently amalgamating withthe North East Kerry DevelopmentCompany.

Unemployed propose a tax-the-rich 8bn alternative

Community Platform proposes 4 Steps 2 Recovery Te Community Plat orm launched a campaign inmid-September or an alternative to drastic cuts.

Te campaign is called 4 Steps 2 Recovery and promotes our common-sense initiatives which would help to deal with the States budget de cit.

Teir o r ideas are:1. Red ce tax breaks or the wealthy

2. Introd ce a Wealth ax or high earners3. End ax Exile loopholes4. Apply PRSI and income levies to all

incomeTe Community Plat orm rejected the

notion that the only way out or the State was throughcutbacks.

More in ormation: www.communityplat orm.ie/

Disability leader proposes land tax

Te Irish National Organisation o the Unemployed(INOU) in its pre-budget submissioncalled or the removal o tax shelters whichit claimed could sort out the hole in the public nances without the need ordrastic multi-billion euro cutbacks.

It called or an end to major tax-breaks or high earners and claimed that

introducing a wealth tax would eliminate over hal theStates 15bn de cit by the year 2014.

It pleaded or no more social wel are cuts.A summary o the INOUs alternatives to

cuts is published on R Es website while theull submission is available on the organisations

website. W: www.inou.ie

UNORTHODOX THINKING! The orthodox view is that the gapin public spending needs to benarrowed by major cuts. However,there are many who argue that theemphasis should be on new andincreased taxes and the removal of tax shelters.

The Sunday Business PostsNiamh Connolly points out, Labour wants an even split in savingsbetween new taxes and publicspending cuts, whereas Fine Gaelwants 3 in public spending cuts toevery 1 secured in tax.

And as TCD economics professor Philip Lane points out, This is notthe IMF of your fathers time. (It) haschanged with regard to respectingthe democratic process.

Only time will tell if he is right,

but for now here are but threesuggestions from civil society onalternatives to major cuts.


16/2416

Womens Development Work

ESB cuts 900 connections a month

ELVA OCALLAGHAN WRI ES

Womens CDPs, o which there are 17, havebeen success ul in lobbying to be allowedcome together under one companybanner but to remain independent.Elva OCallaghan, co-ordinator with the theNational Collective o Community-based WomensNetworks (NCCWN) writes about the development:

On the September 7th, Minister Pat Careyapproved a proposal or a national/local structure orsupporting womens equality through the Local andCommunity Development Programme.

Te proposal was signed by 14 locally-based womens CDPs, NCCWN and the National WomensCouncil o Ireland (NWCI) and was chosen in pre erence to womens CDPs integrating into LocalDevelopment Companies.

What is key to these womens projects is the actthat they are sel -run, sel -managed and to a largeextent sel -de ned. Tey o en provide the rst step or women to get really involved as volunteers in decision-making at local level and the environment is one o learning, growth, sa ety and empowerment.

Te new agreement includes the ollowing keycomponents:

Te NCCWN will take on the role o administering and co-ordinating the Local and

Community Development Programme to 17 womensCDPs.9 womens projects will dissolve their legal status

and merge with the NCCWN.8 womens projects will complete a partial trans er

o their CDP undertakings to the NCCWN butretain their legal status or the purpose o maintaining other unded work, activities, employees and assets.

One CDP has yet to nalise its decision.Te model developed underpins the importance

o local (voluntary) women who experience poverty,social exclusion and inequality, driving the direction o the work o their local projects and this will continueto be re ected through their representation on the re-constituted Board o the NCCWN.

Te three main reasons or retaining a speci c ocuson work with women in the LCDP are:1) Gender equality in Ireland requires a

comprehensive strategy and a coherent local/national

in rastructure to support work with women;2) Te way that local womens projects undertake

their work cannot be success ully trans erred into tILDC structure;

3) Womens community based groups and networand national organisations play a vital role in buildin womens participation in power and decision makinand this needs to be sustained.

Substantial work remains to be done in working othe detail o how the model will operate, but MinisCareys decision can be seen as a success or womeCDPs and the national womens organisationssupporting them.

Te process, which began at the end o 2009, hasbeen truly collective and a great re ection o localand national womens organisations ability to worktogether and to put aside individual objectives andconcerns or the attainment o a collective outcom

At the core, all parties involved have a truecommitment to and belie in the value o the workthey do with women who experience poverty, sociaexclusion and inequality, and this commitment hasbeen recognised and also adopted by the Departmeno Community, Equality and Gaeltacht A airs,throughout the process o negotiation.

Since Minister Careys approval o this proposal,urther three womens projects have signed up to jourther strengthening the collective model, and the

National Womens Council has pledged its support.Te road ahead promises to be bumpy and long with many issues to be resolved regarding undingemployment and governance, but we are resolved ththis road will lead to a sustained and strengthened

ocus on womens equality through community andlocal development.

Te participating projects are: Access 2000 (Wexford) Ltd Blayney Blades Clare Womens Network Claremorris Womens Group Clondalkin Womens Network Dochas for Women, Donegal Womens Network, Limerick Womens Network North Leitrim Womens Centre, Ronanstown Womens CDP Roscommon Womens Network Rowlagh Womens Group Ltd Southside Womens Action Network Southwest Kerry Womens Association Waterford Womens Centre (Access 2000) Women Together Tallaght Network Womens Community Project (Mullingar)

Ltd e National Collective of Community-

based Womens NetworksFor more in ormation, contact Elva at NCCWNsofce in allaght, Dublin.

: 01-4147872.E: [email protected] W: www.nccwn.org

Success for 17 Womens CDPs- Womens equality work secured within the Programme


17/2417

International

Gas disconnections stand at 600 a month

WHAT IS COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (CED):CED is a mixed-recipe of legal, social policy and community development tools all of whichinteract to address issues of poverty and disempowerment within communities.

Lawyers now helpingdefend Irelands

CommunitiesBY Maria Antonieta Nestor*

Campaign groups rom the communitysector have less room or manoeuvre nowthat the EU/IMF is pulling the strings,but theres another way to e ect change.

Tey can use the law as community groups o en doin the USA.

Recently, a group o lawyers, business people andconcerned citizens here in Ireland announced they would provide ree legal help to struggling house-holders acing mortgage arrears.

Tey launched an advocacy group called NewBeginning which actively seeks to use the law to protect the home-owner rom losing their hometo predatory banks. In protecting households

rom nancial ruin, New Beginning is protecting communities.

Tey also plan to bring a test case shortly to arguethat the banks ailed in their duty o care because o their excessive lending.

New Beginning has brought a di erent approachto dealing with the social, economic, legal and political issues that people in Ireland ace today, anapproach known abroad as community economicdevelopment or CED or short.

CEDs BACKGROUNDTe CED movement started in the USA in the1960s, around the same time as the civil rights

movement. In time, poverty and public interestlawyers became involved with CED issues, as they sawthat communities could always nd a voice and ndnew ways to mobilise and gain resources.

Lawyers learned they could use the law in creative ways by thinking outside the box, especially whencommunity organisations aced unding cuts. Lawyershelped community organisations to improve tactics,to merge, to obtain private unding, and to deal withbusiness, housing and corporate law matters among others.

A ew decades later, lawyers had become actors inthe process o development and they were no longerbystanders.

Tis trans ormation made CED much broaderthan economic development as it includedcommunity building, the improvement o community li e and accountability. CED lawyersnow acted as acilitators, building and empowering communities by using di erent legal tools and

approaches, all o which were directed towards theimprovement o the socio-economic in rastructureand personal development o the communities theyrepresented.

ACTION IN LAo give an example, n the 1990s, communities

and low-income residents aced the likelihood o displacement by the development o the StaplesCentre in Downtown Los Angeles. So, residentsand community organisations ormed a coalitionto demand accountability rom the developer.Otherwise, they planned to disrupt the development with law-suits, protests and media campaigns.Tis threat o disruption created communityempowerment which made the developer agree to anumber o bene ts such as jobs, training programmes,and recreational acilities.

In exchange, the coalition agreed to call o plansto disrupt the development. CED lawyers werethere rom the beginning to give the communityits voice and to ensure that the community bene tagreement contained the input rom the community.

At a glance, some other CED initiatives in Irelandinclude:

Te Legal Education Programme at the BallymunCommunity Law Centre.

Te work o the Limerick Regeneration Agencies.

Te Shell-to-Sea Campaign.

HOW CAN CEDCONTRIBUTE IN IRELANDIn any disempowered community, developments canhappen without local accountability. Tis happens inthe absence o CED. I local people are not involved,then no matter how well intended a community project is, it will be built on insecure oundations.

However, when community development workerssit side-by-side with lawyers, and other experts willing to help, then together they can nd new ways o solving a communitys economic and social problems.

Should Local Development Companies andCommunity Development Projects be more pro-active in taking a CED approach? Tis is aquestion only community development workers andcommunity organisations can answer.

We o en look to our neighbours in the USA, but

many times we look without really seeing. Now thamore and more community workers, trade unionistacademics, politicians and members o the publicare calling or resh ways to solve the mess were perhaps it is time we began to include provision otaking the CED approach.

* Maria Antonieta Nestor is a PhD student at theSchool o Law, CD. Her research project is looking at CED lawyering in the USA and comparing it withwhat is happening on the ground in Ireland.

She would like i you would contact her to discuss your experiences, examples or questions about CED. E:[email protected]

*** Visit o r BLOG or more in ormationTere is lot o in ormation available on the internetabout CED lawyering. I you want to have a quickglance at several areas CED practitioners cancontribute to, visit our blog (www.changingireland.blogspot.com and nd the posting uploaded onNov 3rd) to quickly link in with any or all o the

ollowing:Community Bene t Agreements,National Day Labourer Organisation NetworkCLEAN CarWash campaign,

aco rucks (in ormation partly in Spanish),For inspiration on how community educationcan make a di erence, visit the Institute o Popular Education o Southern Cali ornia(IDEPSCA),

Economic justice work o community

coalitions,Immigrant initiatives in Los Angeles, particularly as reported by Victor Narro,For an academic view on CED you can alsoread the scholarly works o Scott Cummings,Susan Bennett, Susan Jones and Roger A. Cla Jr.

J st nder a billion people are h ngry The Food and AgriculturalOrganisation estimates that atotal of 925 million people areundernourished in 2010 comparedwith 1.023 billion in 2009. The number of hungry has declined, but remainsunacceptably high.


18/2418

opinion

Fuel poverty now an issue for previously well-off families

BY MARY MuRPHY

Gearoid Fitzgibbon, in the summer 2010issue o Changing Ireland, argued that thecountry is crying out or new leadership,new values and an alternative model o development. We agree.

In the same article he gave vent to his rustration with Is Feidir Linn.

He argued it is typical o what is wrong withIrish civil society where in Fitzgibbons wordstate- unded radicals make imaginary castles,creating visions o rights withoutemphasis on how to develop theeconomy.

We disagree.Is Feidir Linn is the

name under which agroup o people involvedin civil society initiatives orcommunity development,equality, human rights andsocial inclusion organised in late2008. Recogising in the wordso author Anne Marie Smiththat political struggle dependsin part on the ability to imaginealternative worlds, IFL wantedto imagine an alternative Ireland. We wanted to see the emergenceo a social movement to createand advance this alternativeIreland.

aking up the ambitiouschallenge o developing analternative model o development

or Ireland is no easy task and IFL are veryaware that any model o development has to be basedon developing a sustainable economy.

What we have is a task in progress and we makeno apologies or starting this task. At a well-attendedcon erence in June 2009 IFL launched Shaping our Future, an initial sketch o a balanced model o development. Again this was a starting rather than anend point.

Contrary to Fitzgibbons assertions, IFL neverbelieved one segment o society talking amongstthemselves would o er change. IFL instead spent the past year talking, listening and building trust withother sectors in Irish civil society to build a widercross sectoral mobilization o those who want a moreequitable, sustainable and thriving Ireland.

Earlier this year, the Irish Congress o radeUnions, the organisations rom the environmentalmovement, the Community Plat orm, asc andSocial Justice Ireland entered into dialogue. Teyagreed to explore the potential or wider civil society

co-operation and co-ordination around the searchand demand or an alternative to the current responseto economic recession.

Tis process identi ed shared barriers to building any impetus or change and putting an alternativeanalysis into the public domain.

Its been difcult to achieve e ective connectionsbetween organisations and between di erent sectors

that share a concern about the need to bring orwardan alternative Ireland.It hasnt been easy to link our

nationalorganisation to people on the ground at local

level.Some o the barriers could also be characterised by

a mixture o tired skepticism and cynicism. Anotherbarrier can be summed up by Fitzgibbons assertionthat IFL is dominated by state unded radicals withsel -serving motivations.

While some IFL members are state- undedemployees, others are unded by philanthropies,some are employed outside the community and voluntary sector, others are sel -employed or socialentrepreneurs, others are un ortunately unemployedand more are at increasing risk o unemployment.

For the record IFL has no state unding; in act ithas no unding at all and no expenses are claimed byanyone involved in IFL.

Is Fitzgibbon seriously arguing that people inNGOs, whatever the source o their income, have

no role to play in providing leadership, developing alternative policies or trying to mobilise change?Is he arguing people should sit back and do

nothing? What is encouraging is that cynicism is not the

norm and there has in act been serious progress indeveloping a shared cross-sectoral commitment tosupporting a wider mobilisation o civil society oan alternative and new Ireland to emerge rom thisrecession.

Tis progress under the banner Claiming ourFuture is re ected in an emerging in rastructure oresources, in ormation technology, social media,county-level organisers and spaces or people to c

together to mobilise around common values, policy demands and calls or action.

Tousands o people havealready engaged in the Claiming our Future initiative and themobilization extends ar beyond what Fitzgibbon calls state-

unded radicals.Tere was in act tremendous

voluntary input into the processto date.

Tere remains much to bedone to develop an economicbase o an alternative model o development. IFL is not alone instruggling to develop this and todesign a sustainable revenue base

or the type o public servicesrequired to deliver an equitablesociety and efcient economy.However surely initiatives suchas these are what Fitzgibbonmeans by the new leadership,new values and an alternative

model o development the country is crying out Publications like Changing Ireland have a

valuable role to play in providing such leadership a providing orums to develop sustainable economialternatives. All input is welcome.

IFL defends call forleadership, new values

Dublin: Ministers launch INOU books On September 14th, the Minister or SocialProtection amon Cuv launched the 17thedition o the INOUs agship publicationWorking or Work.

Earlier, on September 6th, the Minister orCommunity, Equality and Gaeltacht A airs, PatCarey, launched a number o publications producedby the INOU and unded by his Department.

He applauded the INOUs important workat community and national levels as he launchedbooklets that advise unemployed people on a rangeo rights, bene ts and services available to them.

W: www.inou.ie


19/241919

Opinion / Book Review

Govts household fuel allowance provides 20 a week for 32 weeks

By Gerry McKeever

While the ear o turning on the radio or

reading a newspaper is turning us all intorabbits staring straight into those IMFheadlights, lets hack ou

changing ireland winter 2010

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