€2.25

WINTER ’06

Changing IrelandChanging IrelandThe National Newsletter of the COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME - funding 180 CDPs & 10 Support Agencies

This publication and most projects featured inside are part of the COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

Nan

addresses

UNPAGE 3

FinglasconfrontssuicidePAGE 4

Tips

on going

legalPAGE 13

ISSUE 20

Speak noevil?

Speak noevil?

OR TELL IT LIKE IT IS!

CCDDPPss wwiitthh aa ccrriittiiccaall vvooiiccee oonn:: •• jjuuddggee’’ss ccoommmmeennttss •• ccrriimmiinnaallss iinn tthhee ccoommmmuunniittyy •• aallccoohhooll rruuiinniinngg ffaammiilliieess •• ppoovveerrttyy •• ddiissccrriimmiinnaattiioonn

2changing ireland

Published by: ‘Changing Ireland’ is published by the Community DevelopmentNetwork, Moyross, Limited, Limerick, Ireland, with funding from the Departmentof Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.Address: ‘Changing Ireland’, Community Enterprise Centre, Moyross, Limerick. Tel Editor: 061-458011.Tel Administrator: 061-458090.Fax: 061-325300.E-mail: editor@changingireland.ie

admin@changingireland.ieWebsite: www.changingireland.ie

Editor: Allen MeagherEditorial team: Sharon Browne, Niamh Walsh, Gerry McKeever,

Viv Sadd and Allen MeagherDesign: PrintZone, Limerick.Printed by: Walsh Printing Services, Castleisland, Co. Kerry

Cover Photo: Siamang Gibbon Monkey from Fota Wildlife Park, CountyCork. Check the website: www.fotawildlife.ie

THANKS TO . . .‘Changing Ireland’ thanks everyone involved in the production of Issue 20.

DISCLAIMERThe views expressed in this newsletter are those of the author concerned. They do not, by any means, necessarily reflect the views of the Editor, the editorial team, the management committee of the Community DevelopmentNetwork, Moyross, Ltd., or the Department of Community, Rural and GaeltachtAffairs.

Telling it like it is!

CONTENTSVoice of the poor 3

‘On the ground’ 4-5

Volunteer’s 4-month battle for votes 6

Ennis ‘tasters’ attract shy parents 7

Help me Horace! 8

Resource page: build a community centre 9

North Dublin CDPs in the Mansion House 10

NUI Maynooth and Community Development 11

Thumbs up for ‘Changing Ireland’ - mostly! 12

Taking the legal route 13

If only we had a Well Fair State 14-16

Going public on criminal behaviour 17

Dublin Projects - Southside 18-19

Limerick Traveller Development Group 20

Project news 21

Social Partnership - like 2 bad kissers 22-23

Achievements made under Partnership 24

Think big! Think national! 25

Community Development: 26-27Current issues & challenges

PRODUCED IN MOYROSS

BY THE COMMUNITY

DEVELOPMENT NETWORK

"THE only thing necessary for evilto flourish is for good men to donothing," said Irish philosopher,Edmund Burke, two centuriesago.

Nan O’Brien of SouthsideTravellers Action Group CDP isnot someone to stand by and letpoverty go ignored. She is a

prime example of what a volunteer and development workerin the Community Development Programme can achieve.

She made history recently by becoming the first Travellerto address the UN, but that was not as important as hermessage:

She outlined why poverty is "hell" and called on the UNto pay attention to the poor who live in the ‘developed West’as well as the majority poor in ‘undeveloped countries’.

She gives voice to her community’s concerns. She speaks

from experience. She cannot read or write, but that certainlydoes not stop her getting her message out.

In this issue, there are a number of other professionalcommunity development voices who express concern thatperhaps the Community and Voluntary Sector has beenalmost silenced through fear of losing funding fromGovernment. They suggest that Social Partnership is quellingradical voices.

Nan has not been silenced, and neither have many CDPs.From Donegal to Dublin and south to Limerick, as stories inthis issue show, CDPs take part in local partnerships, but willspeak out too – as the voice of the poor and vulnerable, oron behalf of them.

Significantly, most CDP voices are raised at local level. Iffunding was sourced for a national office for the CommunityDevelopment Programme, the voices of the mostmarginalised in our society would be heard on a nationalstage.

EDITORIAL

3changing ireland

NNaann tteellllss UUNN ooff‘‘hheelllliisshh’’ ppoovveerrttyy- Nan O’Brien: Mother, estate resident, lifelong-learner,

Traveller and development workerNAN (Anne) O'Brien is a mother of nine,aged 47, and cannot read or write (thoughshe is learning). She has six grandchildrenand her upbringing was on the roadsidebetween Wexford and Dublin. She is aTraveller and has been settled in Ballybrackfor 20 years.

Nan works as a dedicated volunteer and adevelopment worker with Southside TravellersAction Group (STAG) CDP in Dublin.

And another thing - on October 17th thisyear, she found herself in New York toaddress the United Nations on theInternational Day for the Eradication ofPoverty.

She made history by becoming the firstTraveller to address the UN in New York. Hasa Traveller ever addressed Dail Eireann?Don’t think so.

Nan knows from experience what she istalking about when it comes to poverty andexclusion in Ireland. She told the UN:

"My name is Ann O'Brien. I am a Travellerfrom Ireland. I have nine children. I grew upon the side of the road in a tent. I am here totalk about the people who are left behind,who are not just living in poverty but living inhell".

"Poor people don't have enough money.They don't have rights. They haven't got aneducation. They are not included in thesociety because they can't get a job and theydon't have money.

"People think that they have no future andgoes for the drugs and drink. There is notenough help and support to get them backtogether as a family. When you are downpeople push you aside even more.

"People who are not living in poverty, who

were never hungry, who never slept rough,never understand what it feels like.

"We need to let people know that they canstand up for themselves, that they have rightsand that they can do it for other people.

"I understand what other people are goingthrough because I went through very hardtimes myself", she said.

Nan made her speech at a commemorationceremony on the lawn of the UNheadquarters, which was also addressed bythe President of the UN General Assembly, HESheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa and by theUN's Deputy Secretary General, MarkMalloch Brown.

Her involvement with STAG CDP goes backeight years when Nan started doing trainingcourses with the project. She then moved onto doing outreach work for the CDP as avolunteer. She became involved with a humanrights organisation, ATD Fourth World, twoyears ago and began giving human rightstalks. This led to her being invited to the UN.

"The problem for me is I was let down inmy own country. There was no education forme. So I can't read or write, though I'mtrying. I don't want to be on social welfare,but for most jobs you need to be able to readand write, and there's a lot of barriers anddiscrimination too because I'm a Traveller.Most of the work I do is voluntary work," saidNan.

Nan O’Brien called on the UN to look at povertyin western countries as well as in the developingworld.

YOU can safely say that the UN’slatest hammering of Ireland for theextent of its rich-poor gap will not behighlighted by Bord Failte in itsattempts to lure visitors here.

The UN’s rich-poor statistics arecompiled by looking at the number ofhouseholds whose income is below 60%of the average income.

In Ireland, there are a significantnumber of families falling below thislevel, meaning we come second-last in theleague-table of developed countries (nextto the USA). Ireland has held this lowly

position for the past number of years.While Rory O’Donnell of the National

Economic and Social Council accepts thefigures as factual, he says it doesn’t paintan accurate picture.

"If you take those figures on their own,without knowing any other thing aboutIreland, they paint a picture of a Latin-American country during one of thedictatorships when a tiny cabal gothugely rich while the rest of societysuffered absolute poverty. Now, Irelandclearly isn’t like that," said Rory.

Our poor performance in the UNsurvey is not necessarily because there

are so many poor families in Ireland, butbecause there are so many householdswith two or three incomes comingthrough the door (which drives averagehousehold income up).

"We haven’t nailed down thatexplanation for sure," he acknowledges."But we do accept the figures, the (UN)data is accurate," added Rory.

It is considered by the UN to beunhealthy to allow the gap between richand poor in any country grow to toogreat an extent.

To see the UN report, go to:www.un.org

Voice of the poor

UN report on Ireland no use to Bord Fáilte

Finglas: responding tosuicide in the communityRECENTLY, in one week in Finglas West, there were fivesuicides – four of them men from the same gang of friends.

The multiple-suicides created a fear within theneighbourhood, so much so that the community gottogether and organised an open-air community event on‘The Green’.

At that gathering, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers andfriends of the deceased spoke of their grief in public. TheJoe Duffy Show on RTE radio covered the issue on/off fora fortnight.

The ‘gathering on the green’ wasorganised through Project West CDP,particularly Jenny Harris.

"It showed there were people in Finglasdealing with the issue," says Sean Cartright,chairperson of Finglas Suicide Network(FSN).

A long-term approach was needed tohandle suicide.

Needs-basedSean traces FSN’s recent origins to the day

last year when a Catholic sister took him asideand vented her anger and frustration at the lackof bereavement support services in the Finglasarea. Sr. Ignatius Kelly had just returned fromvisiting yet another family bereaved by suicide.

When Sr. Ignatius found Sean was adevelopment worker with Finglas South CDP, sheurged him to take action.

"She nailed me," recalled Sean. "Really, whatshe said struck a chord with me."

Up to then, local religious leaders were theonly people that Finglas people bereavedthrough suicide could turn to.

Afterwards, Finglas South CDP launched abooklet on suicide and, at the launch, the mostpowerful speaker was a local woman, MarieWhelan, whose husband had died by suicide.She delivered such a strong speech thatafterwards a queue of people formed to put theirnames down on a list of those willing to help.

The Finglas Suicide Network (FSN) was bornand later a committee, including volunteers andpaid workers, was formed. It includes: residentsbereaved by suicide, members of Finglas SouthCDP, a HSE community worker, the ParishSisters, Dublin City Council, home school liaisonteachers, Community Gardaí, people from theOptin Program, and ‘Rainbow’ members.

Mandated actionThe committee soon forged strong links with a

national organisation called Console which runsa National Freephone Helpline and provides arange of back-up counselling services forindividuals and outreach services forcommunities faced with suicide.

"Forming the link with Console helped tolegitimise our work," said Sean.

Identifying local needsFSN worked on their Aims and Objectives,

and Mission Statement. Their aim is simple: to provide a community

based response to Suicide.Objectives are:

1. To establish a locally based support servicefor people bereaved by suicide.

2. To promote positive mental health

awareness within the community.3. To ensure integration and co-ordination of

services in Finglas through informationprovision, research and mapping of existingservices.

4. To gather information on the issue of selfharm and para suicide (repeat suicideattempts).

Mission statementThe Finglas Suicide Network is a community

based initiative supporting individuals, familiesand communities concerned and effected bysuicide in a professional and culturallyappropriate way.

Collective actionThe FSN committee looked at improving the

skills and knowledge they had on theircommittee.

"We brought into the committee a HSE areacoordinator, youth workers form Finglas YouthResource Centre, and members of the FinglasAddiction Support Team. We didn’t want to belimited in our vision," said Sean.

FSN with Console set up a counselling servicein Finglas for one day a week.

"We felt that was a big thing – there was nowsomething in the area," recalled Sean.

Meanwhile, all the committee members ofcommittee undertook a 2-day ASSIST trainingcourse with the HSE.

"It taught us that it is best to talk to peoplefeeling suicide, and what to say," continuedSean.

After that, six sub-groups were set up to workon specific areas.

Premises andoutreach work

FSN started off holding meetings in a room inRivermount Parish centre, then movedtemporarily to Finglas Youth Resource Centre.Third time lucky! They finally found a permanentpremises in a central location at Mellows Court.

"It’s ours now and we can operate anytime ofthe day or night from there," said Sean.

FSN now also holds an outreach clinic once aweek in Project West CDP. This helps theNetwork to grow and reach more peoplebecause, as the committee found, it is better tobring the counsellor around to different areas ofthe suburb.

SustainabilityCommunity involvement is essential to FSN’s

development and the Network’s future plans,particularly on suicide prevention, include:

o Organise ASSIST training for professionals(eg teachers, doctors) and members of thecommunity.

o Increase awareness of suicide at communityand professional level. FSN hopes to holdawareness days, distribute leaflets locally,engage the media, etc.

o Hold drama workshops and productions foryouths (with support from Smashing TimesTheatre Company). As Sean says, "We haverecognised that theatre is a very powerful toolfor examining suicide. You can recreate asuicide situation or dramatise a potential suicidesituation. And the best thing about a play is thatyou can freeze a situation, discuss it, pull oneperson out of the picture and put in anotherperson and see how that changes the outcome."

o In the new year, FSN are going to run aSuicide Prevention Programme with the supportof Pieta House, based in Lucan, the country'sfirst community-based centre for the preventionof suicide and self-harm.

o Set up a youth forum where issues such assuicide can be discussed, starting at a local leveland building to a national level.

Increase self esteem among young people. Egby organising personal development courses.

4 it is acceptable to be under the influence of community developmentchanging ireland

Sean Cartright.

On the ground: Community development principles in action

Console Helpline 1800 201 890

THERE have been 35 suicides in theTravelling Community in West Dublin inthe last 18 months and it has had adevastating effect on the Travellercommunity in Tallaght.

Margaret Wall from Tallaght has lostfamily members through suicide. She said:"Despite the fact that there seems to be alot of talk about suicide in general, and itseffects on our young people, there wasvery little information available to helpTravellers tackle the issue."

As a result of the deaths, research wascarried out with 52 Travellers in Tallaghtover one year. It was initiated by TallaghtTravellers Youth Service, (a special projectof Catholic Youth Care) and a report of thefindings was launched on November 10th.

‘Moving beyond Coping’ highlights theimportance of the role education plays inhelping young Travellers and youngpeople generally in having a fair chancein life. It also demonstrates the role alcoholplays in suicide.

Report findings• Depression and other mental health

issues were a major factor in the causesof suicide.

• Family break_up and alcohol and drugabuse were other important factors.

• Common factors in male and femaleattempted suicide were serious level ofdepression, self-harm and havingexperience of a previous suicide in yourfamily.

• The signs that someone may becontemplating suicide were not pickedup by members of the community.

• The most common age for suicide was inthe mid-20s for both male and femalemembers of the community.

Report recommendations• Greater access for Travellers to

counselling services. • Better access to Mental Health services. • Increased support for children who have

experienced suicide or attemptedsuicide in their family or community.

• Increased information and educationservice within the Travelling communityon the issue of suicide.The research was funded by a numbers

of agencies including ElectricAID, Peoplein Need, Society of St Vincent de Paul,Accenture, Unilever, South Dublin CountyCouncil and the National Lottery throughthe Health Services Executive.

• For further information or for hardcopies of the report ‘Moving BeyondCoping - an Insight into the Experienceand Needs of Travellers in TallaghtDealing with Suicide’, contact: AndyDoogue: Education Officer, TallaghtTravellers Youth Service, Tel: 086-254-7873 or Paul Duffy, InformationOfficer, Catholic Youth Care, Tel: 087-235-7220.The report is also available on the

website: www.cyc.ie

Report launched on suicides in Tallaght- understanding suicide among Travellers

5changing ireland

Travellers in Limerick learning to prevent suicides

THERE were four Traveller suicides in 2005 in Limerickcity and a recent CDP survey found that both suicideand depression is on the rise among Travellers in thecity.

"Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly commonin the Traveller Community that young men andwomen are taking their own lives," said AmandaMilne, a development worker with Limerick TravellersDevelopment Group.

"There are no warning signs; if there is a cry forhelp, no-one is picking up the signs," said Amanda.

To counteract the phenomena, Amanda and healthservice staff who work closely with Travellers in thecity recently completed suicide prevention training

with the Traveller Health Unit. They have provided counselling for families

affected by suicide and support groups were set up.This year, LTDG ran suicide prevention training forTravellers themselves.

"The demand for this training has been comingfrom the Travellers themselves," said CDP co-ordinator, Vanessa Buswell. The training wasprovided with support from the HSE’s Traveller HealthUnit.

The aim was to equip local Traveller women withqualifications in Primary Health Care, raising thehealthcare skills-level within the community.

For more information, contact Amanda at LimerickTravellers Development Group, 30 Castle Park,Moyross, Limerick. Tel. 061-371722. Fax: 061-321340. E-mail: cdp@limericktravellers.com

By ALLEN MEAGHER

CONSOLE was established in 2002 and is anational service with offices in Dublin,Galway and Limerick

It is a professional organisation,responding through counselling andoutreach work to the needs of thosebereaved through suicide within thecommunity. It offers specialised counsellingfor individuals, families and children.

Console’s National Freephone Helplinenumber is: 1800 201 890.

It offers a confidential listening service andcallers are offered details of CounsellingServices / Support Groups in their area.

Console has a number of publicationswhich should be of use to any CDP orcommunity group concerned with suicide.Their suicide-prevention DVD ‘A life 2 live 4’is especially recommended (by SeanCartright of FSN).

For more information, contact: Console,All Hallows College, _GraceparkRoad,_Drumcondra, Dublin 9._Tel: 01-8574300. _Fax: 01-8574310. E-mail:info@console.ie_ Addresses for Console’soffices in Clondalkin, Galway and Limerickare available on their website:www.console.ie

Pieta House offersfree servicePIETA House in Lucan, Co. Dublin, is a freeservice for people effected by suicide (it isfunded by private donations). It provides one-to-one counselling by psychotherapists for thefirst week or 10 days and, as a personimproves, therapy is gradually reducedduring the next four to six weeks.

As well as providing intensive support toindividuals, the service aims to reach out tofamilies and teach them how to deal with afamily member in crisis. It also trains localvolunteers to provide ongoing family support.

For more information, contact SeanCartright at Finglas South CDP.

Tel. 01-864-0285.

y development principles in action

6changing ireland the u.s.a. is responsible for 48% of global military spending

ARE you on the register of electors? Have youbeen taken off the register of electors? Will youvote? Who cares? 69-year-old super volunteer,Marie Dunne from Drogheda does,passionately. From the end of June to mid-September, Marie worked at least four days perweek, calling to over 2000 houses in the southDrogheda area.

Nothing had been done on the voterregistration project on the Southside CDP’sworkplan when Marie decided to take the bull bythe horns.

According to co-ordinator Mary Mcclory: "Itwas Marie Dunne who suggested it. All her lifeshe has been involved in local politics withFianna Fail and is a great believer in theimportance of voting."

"I didn’t do it as a party-political person," saidMarie, "but as a Southside CDP person. It wasvital for us to complete our workplan, we have somany important projects depending on themoney we get from the Department."

"I rang Seamas Kirk, the local Fianna Fail TDand asked him for the register. He sent downcopies of all the registers for the local estates.There are 5 council estates and 6 new estates inDrogheda," she said.

According to Margaret McClory: "She did thewhole route in numeric order, without skippingany. She knows this area like the back of herhand."

The whole summer long, with a copy of thevoting register in one hand and with hercopybook in the other, Marie Dunne called door-to-door.

"I had to do it all on my own, apart from theCDP receptionist (a local Community EmploymentScheme worker) who gave a hand a few days. Itwas hard work, sometimes you had to go back toa house three times. And then when you camehome in the night, you had to do more. I hadn’ttime to bless myself," laughed Marie. "I hadn’teven a holiday this year, I didn’t even buyclothes, and I had to throw away my old runnersat the end of it!"

Marie found a good few houses rented out tonon-nationals. Other houses had peopleregistered that were dead, while in one estate,there were 70 locals who were not registered. Anawful lot of the young people were notregistered. In some cases there were boyfriendsliving with girlfriends, or people who weresupposed to be lone parents or separated, afraidto register in case the local authority saw thatthey were living together.

"They still won’t get the register right, even thistime round. There are so many new houses, andthe boundaries are a mess. In several estates inDrogheda, half the houses are in Louth, and theother half in Meath," said Marie.

Marie, who lives in St. Finian’s Park has beenactive in the community all her life. She was tothe fore in a successful campaign to get a ¤9.4million refurbishment grant to fix up ‘cardboard’houses in the estate.

"Some people almost come to expect you to doit," she said, talking of volunteer work, "but youdon’t work for thanks, you love what you do, andif you love what you do, you keep on doing it."

By GEARÓID MacGIOBÚIN

Kilbarrack CDP Active Citizenship TrainingKILBARRACK as a community experienceshigh levels of economic and educationaldisadvantage. As with other areas ofDublin, it is also disadvantaged in terms ofplayspace and sports amenities, as well ashaving high levels of ill health, writesGearóid MacGiobúin.

So what does this have to do withsetting up a voter registration/activecitizenship project?

Kilbarrack CDP co ordinator, CathleenO’Neill explains: "The youth services andCDP receive great support from localpeople in terms of fundraising andvolunteering.

"However, there are men and womenand young people who have not beeneither encouraged or empowered to takean active role in their community. Ouractive citizenship course, ‘The Community& How It Works’ seeks to educate peopleabout the voter education and to empowerlocals to participate in local democracyand governance.

The course will take a hard look at ourcommunity: what it needs and how toensure that these needs are met. The ideais to encourage this target group todevelop a ‘change agenda’ and to becomeinvolved," she said.

The course will also give participants achance to do a module on localgovernance with a view to training themto take up places on the boards of localcommunity organisations.

Adds Cathleen: "We have high hopethat this course and our encouragementand direct contact will lead us to workwith more people who can make adifference."

Kilbarrack CDP Active Citizenship courseis funded by the One-Off Grants recentlyannounced by the Department ofCommunity, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs.

Marie Dunne (centre) with Minister Dermot Aherne as he cuts the tape to openSouthside CDP’s new community centre in Drogheda earlier this year.

Voter registration

Volunteer’s Volunteer’s 4-month 4-month battle for votesbattle for votes

ActiveCitizenshipCourses for Community GroupsTHE Vincentian Partnership for SocialJustice provides on-going activecitizenship/voter education workshops tocommunity groups around Leinster. Theworkshop involves 3 or 4 facilitatedsessions of about 2.5 hours. It is strictlynon-party political, is 85% participationand 15% presentation.

The programme is also available as atraining for trainers workshop and ispresented in a manual and set of charts,which are available on a non-profit basis.

For more information, contact: CarinaFitzgerald, Development Officer, VincentianPartnership for Social Justice, OzanamHouse, 53 Mountjoy Square, Dublin 1. Tel.01-878-0425.

E-mail: vpj@eircom.net Website : http://www.vpsj.ie

7changing ireland shannon civilian airport benefits financially from u.s. military spending

ENNIS CDP are very impressed with theresponse to ‘taster’ workshops.Numbers of participants who joined upfor courses were subsequently muchhigher than normal thanks to the‘tasters’.

They work the same way a bakery doeswhen you pass – the aroma may lure you in.

Ennis CDP’s Barbara Ní Chonchúirexplained: "Often people with little or no, orbad experiences of mainstream educationcan be put off by the prospect of long termcommitment to a course. For this reason,Ennis CDP promoted a programme aimed atthe Traveller community by starting off withthree ‘taster’ workshops on family learningissues."

Such was the success of this approach thatit led to 24 Traveller parents completing twoVEC Family Learning Courses.

"We managed to get Traveller parents fromthe general community to participate ineducation, their own and that of theirchildren," said Barbara. "It was difficult at thestart, but we employed a Traveller communityliaison officer to encourage people to takepart."

Over the summer, nine Traveller parentsfrom Ennis received certificates for theFoundation Course in After School Support, acourse developed and administered by MaryImmaculate College in Limerick and deliveredin Ennis by local professionals.

Among the nine who received theircertificates were:- a tutor at the homework club. - a childcare worker as well as a homework

club tutor.- a special needs assistant to Traveller

students at a local secondary school. "We would like to continue with our

training & education opportunities forTravellers," said Barbara. "We want to

develop a mentor programme betweenTraveller parents, to help them become pro-active in their childrens’ learning. We alsowant to continue with parenting courses,

family learning, literacy and computercourses."

However, the training is under threat at themoment, as funding from the Department ofEducation & Science ends in December.

"We’re looking for new fundingopportunities," added Barbara.

All the participating parents have youngchildren at home, so the programme supportsthem with childcare so they can attend.

Both the Traveller Homework Club andParent Support Program are managed byTraveller parents and a partnership ofagencies including: Ennis CDP, Clarecare,Ennis West Partners, St. Joseph’s TrainingCentre, Department of Education (VisitingTeacher Service), and Colaiste Mhuire. • For more information, contact Ennis CDP,

Unit 2, Mill House, Mill Road, Ennis, Co. Clare. Tel. 065-686-9026. Fax: 065-686-9052. E-mail: enniscdp@eircom.net

Travellers & 3rd level

Ennis ‘tasters’ attract shyparents with low education

Travellers in Third Level - Literacy essentialFIGURES from 2002 tell a lot about thecore facts of Traveller education inIreland:- 5500 Traveller children in primary

schools. - 1608 Travellers in post-primary

schools (only 40% of all Travellerchildren of post-primary age).

- 16 Travellers attending third leveleducation (and 16 is not a misprint).

According to Dr. Peadar Cremin,President of Mary Immaculate College(Mary I.), Limerick, "There are seriousblockages preventing a flow gettingthrough to third level. Without highlevels of literacy and general educationattainment, Travellers are automaticallyexcluded from further or third-leveleducation, and from the veryprofessions that service their own

communities, including health, educationand accommodation."

Five years ago, Mary I. initiated aproject called "Moving On" to raiseawareness around routes into third levelfor minorities through community-basededucation. Last year, the universityfollowed up with a study on the issue asit effects Travellers.

Front: Catherine McCarthy, Norah Donavan, Mary Sherlock. Middle: Julia Faulkner, Winnie Mongans.Back: Teresa McDonagh, Maggie McDonagh, Winnie McDonagh, Ann Delaney (participated but unableto complete the course). Missing: Shirley Ward.

Aims and fundingTHE Traveller Homework Parent SupportProgramme was established as a follow-up to the Traveller Homework Club(established in 2003). It aimed to:- support Traveller parents with their

children’s homework; - involve parents in a voluntary

homework support service for Travellerchildren;

- and support Traveller children inmainstream education. Funding was secured through the

Department of Education and Science’s‘Education Equality Initiative’ in mid-2004and development worker, Barbara NíChonchúir was employed by Ennis CDP.

By GEARÓID Mac GIOBÚIN

8changing ireland militia in sudan travel in chinese trucks with u.s. engines

In a RiddleHelp Me Horace!IN this era of equality how come we have aSTAG CDP but no HEN CDP?

While I’m at it - which came first, Acorn CDPor OAK Partnership?

Sincerely,Con Undrum,Humdrum Support Agency,Dundrum

Well Con,In answering your HEN CDP question, Con, I

don’t know why, but it seems totallyunreasonable.

The second question drove me nutty, butwithout a HEN CDP it’s interesting there is noEdenderry Growing Greater (EGG) CDP either.Sorry I can’t solve these mysteries.

‘Status Quo’quandryMy Dear Horace,MY favourite band of all time is ‘Status Quo’,but I am also a big fan of ‘Changing Ireland’and feel something isn’t right.

Yours truly,Con Tradiction,Fighting for Peace CDP

Dear Con,Yes, I think you’ll have to change your musical

tastes. My favourite band is ‘SomethingHappens’ because in this work I’m not always

sure what’s going on, but I know something’shappening.

Keep fighting!

No doubt aboutSuir CDPHelp Me Horace!

I’VE heard word there’s a bit of a split in LeCheile CDP? Could this be true?

Rume R. Monger,Ceart Go Leor CDP

Dear Rume,Of course not! Other rumours I want to quash

now are that:Harmony CDP are having ‘The Clash’ for their

Christmas party.There is some doubt about Suir CDP.That due to vandalism Open Door CDP is

changing to Closed Steel Shutter CDP.None of these are true.

Write to: Help Me Horace, ‘Changing Ireland’, c/o CDN Moyross, Community Enterprise Centre, Moyross, Limerick.

MINISTER of State, Noel Ahern, announcedin August the allocation of €1.066m inonce-off grants to 169 projects fundedunder the Community DevelopmentProgramme.

The additional funding, in grants ofbetween €1000 and €16000, is for a widerange of project activities and will alsofacilitate premises refurbishment and thepurchase of office equipment and computers.

Minister Ahern said, "Projects in theCommunity Development Programme havebeen supported by Government for sixteenyears now, during which time they havemade an invaluable contribution to thecommunities they serve, particularly in termsof the social inclusion work undertaken. Ihave witnessed at first hand the work of manyof these projects and I am delighted to beable to contribute further to this work byapproving these grants which will hopefullyenable the CDPs to provide an even moreeffective and comprehensive service locally."

Grants in Mayo go seven waysIN Mayo, €46,780 was allocated to sevenCDPs, including Kiltimagh CDP which, forinstance, received a typical grant of €6,300.

Although this is just a quarter of whatKiltimagh sought, the money will be stretchedto fund three separate projects:1) Providing leadership training for a youth

peer group from the local secondaryschool one evening per week. The training will cover issues such as drugs,alcohol abuse, citizenship. The aim is tohelp the young people become positive rolemodels and help develop a local youthcommitteee that can input into the CDP’swork

2) Setting up a small Intercultural Festival,with a family afternoon exploring differentcultures and guest speakers to take part ina seminar. There are up to 70 foreign national refugeeapplicants staying in a local hostel, somewith children attending local schools. "Thefestival will be sort of a small scale DunLaoighre," says CDP Chairperson RitaHopkins.

3) Setting up a Community Partnership Forumto get local groups (including the youthpeer group) to work together to respond toand anticipate the needs of the community. "Just this year both the Foróige Club and theBasketball club have closed down due tolack of community volunteers," says Rita,"We want the community forum to bring innew ideas and volunteers."For more information, contact: Kiltimagh

& District CDP, Main Street, Kiltimagh, Co.Mayo. Tel: 094 9381506. E-mail:kmcdpl@eircom.net. The chairperson is Rita

Hopkins.

Finglas filming drug addictionPROJECT West CDP in West Finglas, Dublin,got a special grant of €10,000 towardsmaking a video about addiction. Project Westhas been running a mainstream-fundedDrugs Information Community EducationCourse since 1997. The course is aimed at people in the generalFinglas/Cabra area including the generalpublic, users in recovery, people related todrug users, and Gardaí.

According to CDP chairperson PatriciaBourke, "We have a section on the coursecalled ‘Family Systems’ where we used a videoto show the process and impact of addiction.Unfortunately, the video is quite Americanised,so didn’t really connect with people here. Agroup here had recently done a drama onaddiction that had a really strong impact, sowe decided to make a video as part of acreative assignment course. It’s all localpeople, showing the process of addiction, co-dependency and enabling."

For more information, contact: ProjectWest, Unit 2, Barry Complex, Barry Road,Finglas West, Dublin 11. Tel: 01-8643847

ONCE-OFF GRANTS

€1m extra for once-off grantsGEARÓID MacGIOBÚIN reports

9changing ireland the new national partnership agreement is called ‘towards 2016’

THE most important thing about building orrenovating a Community Centre building is tosee this as a core piece of work. It now is thework plan, not just an addition to it.

Developing community resources is a corefunction of CDPs and Family Resource Centres.By providing basic community infrastructuresyou can attract other services and thus becomemore sustainable yourselves.

Plan the building carefully. Decide who theusers will be and what activities they will beinvolved in. Obviously no matter how well youplan, the needs of your community will changeover time. So you also have to think multi-purpose! Aim high. You may never get thechance to do this again.

General Matters• Involve local people• Use local labour. The electricians,

carpenters and so on who build yourbuilding will know it best. You mayneed them again down the road. SOmake sure they are local.

• Pick the right architect. Plan forfuture usage

• Make sure rooms are big enough • Maximum storage/ lockable

cupboards for groups• Put in solid floors. This will reduce

the level of noise between floors.• Put glass panels on all your internal

doors (frosted glass on the toiletdoors). This is very important forchild protection and other reasons.Obviously make sure only safetyglass goes in.

Outside• Bike rack• Ample car park spaces • Near the front door reserve some disabled

driver spaces• Wheelie Bin Storage for two bins.• Out door play area • Fire assembly point at a safe distance from

the building.

Access• Universal design principles• Use ‘Buildings for Everyone’. But remember

the legal minimum is not always bestpractice.

• Get access right. Ramps are very often toosteep for people with mobility impairments.You need to think beyond the wheelchairuser.

Cost Issues• Agree costs at the beginning, in writing. • Allow for an increase in costs• Have regular finance meetings while the

project is going on.• If using grants to build / kit out, make sure

that you clarify at the start what is and whatis not eligible spending.

Management Issues• Strong premises committee.• Organise site meetings with the builder to

monitor progress. Or at least get minutes ofall their site meetings.

• Co-ordinator and Administrator timedemands are huge.

• You will need to prepare a whole set ofpolicies about your new building…forexample, what is the criteria for using thebuilding? Can any group ask for a room?What are your charges? (need to projectand work out your running costs). Internet &telephone use policy. Health & Safety.Recruitment & Selection. Etc. etc.

• Have you though out the usage – serviceplan.

• Have you got a staffing plan to resource

your service plan? If not start now. Forexample have you applied for a CE scheme.

Health & Safety• Make sure you have a good fire alarm

system wired into the electrical set up. Alsoinstall flashing beacons linked to the firealarm system in every room for deaf people.

• Pick a company to supply and service allyour fire fighting equipment. Do fire training,keep records of regular fire drills.

• Safe access/ egress of children/ olderpeople. Do a very careful safety audit andtake all necessary steps to address potentialhazards.

• Health and Safety training & policy. Safetystatements are really important. Make sureyou get a Safety File from the builder whenthey are finished.

• Pick a hygiene company that you willmaintain a relationship with. Get them to kitout your toilets, hand dryers etc.

• Don’t forget to build a space as a JanitorStore Room. Where are you going to lockaway detergents, mops, hoover, buffer etc.

Electrical & IT• Plenty electrical points. More than you need

now.• Plenty of internet access points other than in

IT/PC room• Put in the wiring for a computer server and

Broadband. Plan for a minimum of 18people/computers. Think minimum class sizefor FAS requirements etc. Think about hiringan IT Consultant / trouble shooter on amaintenance contract.

• Put in a phone system large enough to takeextra lines in the future.

Security & Caretaking• Put in a floor or wall

safe for storing cheques. Make sure it is big

enough.• Magnets on doors and

codes for keypad access.• Care-taking/sustainable

night time usage.• Have good lighting

outside for night time usage.

• Coded Grouped Keys – can be handy for giving people a key that will open sets of doors and restrict access to other areas. This will impact on your caretaking / security arrangements. We got ours from Total Iron Mongery Solutions, Cork.

• If you are using shutters, put them on the inside of the windows/doors. Ones on the outside sendthe wrong message for a community project.You don’t want to look like you’re in themiddle of a war zone / ghetto.

• Have you thought about CCTV? While youdon’t want to over do it you might want justone camera on the front door?

Insurance• Make sure that you have adequate public

liability insurance when you are ready toopen the doors.

• Check the status of your insurance during thebuilding works. At this stage it is usually thebuilder who insures the site. But your owninsurance must kick in on hand over day.You will need buildings, contents, publicliability, maybe payroll, what about crèche,groups, outings etc. Give it thought and shoparound.

• If you have a lift you will need EngineeringInsurance.

• If you have a PC lab / IT room you will needData Insurance.

Resource page

Build a Community Centre!- Tips by Sharon Browne

AAFFTTEERRAAFFTTEERR

TRALEE COMMUNITY CENTRE BUILDING

BBEEFFOORREEBBEEFFOORREE

changing ireland in ireland, there is a cabinet committee on social inclusion10

CDPs’ turnover"THE average turnover for CDPs inNorth Dublin in 2004 was €278,000.The minimum (for a new CDP in start-up phase) was €30,000, the max was€3.5 million."

- Noreen Byrne of Doras Buí CDP

Is joy-ridingaptly named?A NEW report on joy-riding points outthat many commentators haveproposed that so-called joy-riders’should be referred to in ways thatcapture the human costs associatedwith this activity – as ‘death riders’,‘grief riders’, and ‘murder riders’.

"However, it can also be arguedthat joy-riding is aptly named, beingrich in excitement and a dramaticbreak from the boredom of beingwage-less and wealth-less.

The report goes into considerabledetail in outlining the factors thatmotivate young people to engage injoy-riding.

Youths who engage in joyridingdon’t call it by that name – they setoff to ‘flash’ a car.

Profilingtypicaljoy-ridersACCORDING to established research,males are six times more likely thenfemales to have ever stolen a car.Most car thieves embark on theircriminal career at a relatively youngage. Starting ages of as young as 10years are not unusual.

Many of those engaging in differentcategories of car theft share acommon demographic profilecharacterised, by "a socially-deprivedhome life, poverty, unemployment,underachievement and low aspirationslocated within a lower socio-economicenvironment," says a new reporttitled: ‘The Nature and Impact of Joy-riding in Priorswood – A Report to thePriorswood Task Force on Joy-riding’.

Copies of the full report are availablethrough Priorswood CDP. Tel. 01-848-6458. Fax: 01-867-1182. E-mail:mary.outreach@oceanfree.net

North DublinCDPs showcasetheir work- ‘Making a Difference’ conference

in the Mansion House

Making a difference

THE average CDP attracts in 150% morefunding on top of the core grant they receivefrom the Department of Community, Ruraland Gaeltacht Affairs.

"CDPs are the fundamental building blocksin local disadvantaged communities," pointedout Noreen Byrne of Doras Buí CDP. She wasspeaking at the ‘Making a Difference’Conference held on November 15th, in theMansion House.

The conference brought togethercommunity workers and policy makers to lookat responses at neighbourhood level to issuesfacing disadvantaged communities.

"CDPs offer a variety of footholds for otheragencies wishing to work in an area, andthey help shape the implementation of somenational programmes at local level. It hasbeen seen that new initiatives introduced toan area have a much greater chance ofsurvival if there is a CDP in the community,"added Noreen, who chaired the event.

There are 33 CDPs in North Dublininvolving around 350 volunteers and about70 staff, and, as Noreen said, they play a keyrole in identifying and filling needs –childcare facilities; community buildings;intervention projects; local training initiatives,and so on.

The conference was addressed by Dublin’sLord Mayor, Vincent Jackson, and includedpresentations by Susan Fox of BlakestownCDP, Sean Cartright of Finglas South CDP,

and Noel Kelly from the Priorswood Taskforceon Joyriding.

Sean outlined how Finglas South CDP setup a local support network for peopleeffected by suicide and linked with Console,the country's first community-based centre forthe prevention of suicide and self-harm.

Noel explained how, over eight years,Priorswood CDP was heavily involved in alocal taskforce to combat joyriding and, sincethe taskforce was set up, there has been a32% reduction in stolen cars in the estate.Noel said some of the reduction had to dowith their work while more of it had to do withthe fact that cars built since 1998 are harderto steal. Nonetheless, Gardai in North Dublinidentify the work of the Priorswood JoyridingTaskforce as a key achievement by a CDP.They would like to see it replicated in otherareas and cities.

Specialised contributions were given by:Rory O’Donnell, director of the NationalEconomic and Social Council, and two UCDacademics - Aogán Mulcahy, a sociologistwho specialises in policing and thecommunity, and Mick Rush who presented arange of statistics showing how the family inIreland is changing.

The conference was organised by TosachRegional Support Agency to show how CDPsare making real and vital progress as theyseek to ‘Make a Difference’ in their localities.

11changing ireland o.s.i. = office for social inclusion (www.socialinclusion.ie)

‘From the marginsto the mainstream’- Maynooth celebrates 25 years of

professional community work formation

OVER 25 years, the National University ofIreland (NUI) in Maynooth has educatedhundreds of community development andyouth workers, a great many of whom havecontributed hugely to the CommunityDevelopment Programme. A conferencecelebrating the endeavours of its graduatesto work for change in Irish society tookplace in mid-November.

The conference opened with perspectivesfrom past pupils Rita Fagan (St. Michael’sFamily Resource Centre in Inchicore, Dublin –a CDP), Siobhan O’Donoghue (MigrantsRights Centre), Davy Joyce (barrister), andVincent Jackson, current Lord Mayor ofDublin. All identified their grounding incritical social analysis as a key learning thatthey carried with them from Maynooth.

‘From the Margins to the Mainstream’reflects the fact that since 1981 communitywork and youth work have moved frommarginal activities into mainstreamgovernment initiatives and programmes. Thediscussions focussed on the changes to the

nature of the work and the challenges to keepthe principles of human rights and socialjustice at the heart of community and youthwork practice.

The President of Ireland Mary McAleesegave a rousing address to those assembledand this was followed by a lecture in memoryof the late John O’Connell on ‘Racism: GlobalIssues, Local Challenges’ delivered byDoudou Diene, UN Special Rapporteur onRacism and Xenophobia.

The conference set about reclaiming theradical agenda amid the contemporarychallenges and opportunities for communityand youth work. The matter was discussed ina series of mini-seminars, including thequestion CDPs have grappled with"Cohesion, Co-operation or Control?"

It proved a timely opportunity to reflect andreview on the education received and thework achieved over 25 years. The conferencesent people away with some analysis towardsbest policies, best practice, best projects andbest education for the future. Credit must goto Anastasia Crickley and her team for thesuccess of the event.

Maynooth and community development

JUAN CARLOS AZZOPARDI reports

Juan Carlos Azzopardi.

MAYNOOTH is seen as one of the great seatsof conservatism, having trained priests andbishops of the Catholic Church for over 200years. So some may be surprised to find thatso many community development workers inthe Community Development Programmecame out imbued with their left wing liberalideologies after completing courses with the

Department of Applied Social Studies of NUIMaynooth.

The university has the distinction of havingthe highest percentage of students fromdisadvantaged communities of all third levelcolleges, the highest participation rate ofTravellers and 18% of the student body aremature students from 58 countries and every

county in Ireland. The first Traveller to graduate from third level

in Ireland was Thomas McCann with a Diplomain Community Work from St. Patrick’s College,Maynooth. In the same year that this coursebegan, no Traveller transferred from primary tosecondary school.

Maynooth’s radical edge

CDP critical?writes JC Azzopardi

AT the conference in Maynooth, SusanShaw of Triskele Support Agencyasked:

"What type of critical analysisapplies to the Community DevelopmentProgramme? Are we critical in terms ofproviding severe judgements andevaluations of public policies or are weourselves closer to serious illness and inneed of intensive care?"

Susan was responding to apresentation on ‘Reclaiming the RadicalAgenda’ from Professor MargaretLedwith, St. Martin’s College, Lancaster,England.

The question we must all pose toourselves is – ‘Am I making adifference?’

Susan also speculated on whether ornot the Programme’s emphasis withlocal volunteers was now focused onthe development of management skills,at the expense of the passion for socialjustice among those very volunteers.She asked, does the programme set upto support volunteers actually crushthem?

These are questions we mustconstantly ask. Having worked in theProgramme for 10 years I can certainlysay we have made a difference. Have Imade a difference? For definite. Rightnow, with everything that is going on,am I / are we making a difference. Idon’t know. Will we in the future?Absolutely!

I would be more worried if theProgramme was being described as ina stable and comfortable condition.

Labour wants €3.5 billion LABOUR leader, Pat Rabbitte, has demandeda €3.5 billion "war on poverty" in the 25most disadvantaged areas of the State.

The "war" should be waged over the next sixyears. The plan is outlined in a major policydocument titled ‘A Fair Deal: Fighting Povertyand Exclusion in Ireland.’

While admitting that poor communities havebenefited from the ‘Celtic Tiger’, and hailing theeconomic upturn as "a cause of celebration",Pat pointed out that major pockets ofdisadvantage still exist.

He said the RAPID areas – initially promisedbillions of euro in development aid – were"starved of resources."

The Labour leader criticised the Minister forCommunity, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs,

saying: "Having Éamon Ó Cuív travelling thelength and breadth of the west coast giving outcheques for €5,000 and €10,000 may begreat for politics, but it is not a war on poverty."

Minister Ó Cuív’s Department does not havethe high media profile that other GovernmentDepartment’s do (such as Health) and he is notoften singled out for criticism.

"What we need is a targeted assault on asmall number of areas. They are relatively fewin number, but poverty remains a deep-seatedproblem within them," said Pat.

Acknowledging that a "war on poverty"would not be popular with voters, he said,"These areas have the lowest turn-outs in thecountry, 30% in some areas. But it is a moralquestion at the top of our priorities."

changing ireland knockanrawley resource centre (cdp) wins a ‘community care’ award12

FOR our evaluation this year, the fifth and mostcomprehensive since the magazine was established in 2001,we sent out 1600+ questionnaires to our readers. Wereceived close to 200 replies which represents around 9% ofour circulation. The following are among the main findings:

Overall, the results were very encouraging:91% of readers voted that Changing Ireland was doing a

good job of covering the relevant issues. Less than10% couldpoint to anything boring about the magazine.

Readers found the magazine to be informative, relevant, agood source of community development information, and alsoto have a healthy measure of humour.

Our readers regard the magazine as a good way of findingnews, ideas, and contacts about Community Developmentwork.

This vindicates the reasons for setting up the magazine, andit supports the opinions of CDPs expressed in all previoussurveys that ‘Changing Ireland’ was doing a good job ofpromoting their work.

‘Changing Ireland’ increases knowledge of the Programme

Note: A further question found that 81% of Non-CDP respondents say theyknow more about the Programme as a result of ‘Changing Ireland’.

Shock! Horror! Readers now know more about CDPs!

There was an interesting breakdown between people workingin CDPs and those working elsewhere: the level of learningamong readers from CDPs was significantly higher. In fact, 48%of readers from CDPs know "Very much more" about the workof CDPs because of ‘Changing Ireland’. (Presumably, staff andvolunteers working in CDPs read articles about other CDPs witha very keen eye).

Similarly, in 2003, 94% agreed they felt "more a part of anational programme because of ‘Changing Ireland’."

Why do people read ‘Changing Ireland’?

As a source of community development information – and itwould be a problem if this was any different - 90% of readersrate ‘Changing Ireland’ as ‘good’, ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’.Among readers from CDPs, that figure stands tall at 96%.

Asked "What is the most boring thing about ChangingIreland?" 90% of respondents wrote ‘Nothing!’ or left the spaceblank (indicating the same). We are looking at the 10% ofresponses that did find cause for complaint. (Some think themagazine is too positive or focuses too much on Departmentalissues or that ‘Help Me Horace!’ is boring).

Humour: Overall, the humour of ‘Changing Ireland’ ratedwell, with 70% rating the humour as good or very good, and14% rating it as excellent. Horace hits the mark.

The most popular themes/issues suggested for futurecoverage were: funding, education, volunteers, new CDPs andrural issues. (Most people (37%) made no suggestion).

A quarter of respondents recommended someone new forthe mailing list.

Thanks to everyone who took part in our survey. Full 16page copies of the detailed evaluation report are availablefrom the ‘Changing Ireland’ office (see page 2).

Thumbs up for ‘ChangingIreland’ - mostly!- Readers’ evaluation - 2006

13changing ireland there were 431 suicides in ireland las year; most were men

Some commonlegal issues formarginalisedgroups

Promoting trade unionmembership

• Lack of rights and standards withinpublic services e.g. housing

• Lack of a right to advocacy andrepresentation

• Negative effect of discretion withinservices e.g. social welfare andhousing

• Lack of the statutory right to familyreunification

• Lack of rights for undocumentedworkers

• Discrimination in service provision asexperienced by Travellers

• Exploitation of the elderly who havelost all legal entitlements to theirproperty

• Social welfare issues and lack ofaccess to entitlements

• Lack of knowledge of the legalsystem and how to impact on it.

A NEW campaign to promote tradeunion membership in the communitysector was launched at a conferenceheld on November 21st, in Dublin.

Responding to presentations fromworkers in the sector, trade unionleaders acknowledged that whilethey have had some notablesuccesses, they have not managedto establish decent standards ofemployment across the sector.

Both Shay Cody of IMPACT andJack O’Connor of SIPTU addressedthe conference.

The next stage is to increase tradeunion membership so that theunions can leverage maximuminfluence on behalf of workers inthe sector.

For anyone wishing to a copy ofthe conference report or to getinvolved in the future - leaflets,posters and badges are availablefrom Dublin Employment Pact, 7North Great George’s Street, Dublin1. Tel. 01-878-7900.

E-mail:jsomers@dublinpact.ie.

Consider takinga legal actionstrategy!- community groups could unite to fight casesTHE law is a tool that Traveller CDPs inparticular make good use of. However,many CDPs shy away from adoptinglegal strategies to achieve theircommunitys’ aims, or they do notrecognise that they are using legalstrategies already.

Recently, a number of volunteers andstaff in CDPs in urban and rural areaswere interviewed as part of a newinitiative to encourage community groupsto take more legal cases.

In 2005, CAIRDE, Ballymun CommunityLaw Centre, Irish Traveller Movement LegalUnit, Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland,Northside Community Law Centre cametogether to see about working more closelyon legal issues affecting marginalisedgroups. They also wanted to see howcommunity participation within legalprocesses could be strengthened.

"CDPs and community groups in generalcould be doing more if they adopted legalstrategies," said Grainne O’Toole, one ofthe researchers leading the new initiative.

Nineteen organisations were contactedwhich included a mix of rural, urban andissue based organisations. CDPs includingDoras Bui CDP in Dublin and FORUM CDPin County Galway. Kildare TravellersAction, who are currently applying forCDP status, were also interviewed.

The main issues they found were:• Marginalised groups are very

vulnerable and there is an overall lack of

support for such groups to engage withthe legal process.

• There is a lack of access to quality legaladvice and high legal costs ensure thatclaiming legal rights within the courts isprohibitive.

• People acceptance of discrimination andlack of enforcement of their rights iswidespread. This stems from the fact thatmany people are unaware of their rightsand/or how to go about securing them.

• There is a lack of strategy building as thelegal system is based around individualcases so cases that are won andprecedents set are not shared on apractical level. Also, as a result ofsuccessful cases little change occurs inpolicies or attitudes of the state. Now, the CLAS group hope to set up a

network, starting with a conferenceseminar in January. The venue will beDublin, the date has yet to be set. The earlyrecommendations of the CLAS groupinclude the following:• Groups could work together within the

CLAS network on common themes togive force to the issues being worked on.

• CLAS could develop a strategy to tapinto legal resources.

• For more information, contact Grainne O’Toole, Talbot Mews, Vernon Grove, Rathgar, Dublin 6. Tel. 01-496-5736. E-mail: grainneotoole@gmail.com

changing ireland suicide helpline for teens, 24-hours a day, everyday: 1800 945 67814

If only we had a Well Fair State

FFaaccee uupp ttoo ssoocciiaall pprroobblleems, save the economy!- new Developmental Welfare State could be as popular as ‘Riverdance’THERE are plenty talkshops, but the NESConly gives a big report every three years.And this is one group the Government, for achange, do listen to.

The NESC is the National Economic andSocial Council. Here’s what they’re saying!

Give people and communities whatbusiness gets – a few bob with a smile to getthem started and to keep them going, servicesto back up what they’re doing, and finally,keep trying out new ideas all the time.

Kerry Butter was available in supermarketsin West Africa when unemployment in Irelandwas still in double figures. The farmer didn’tbring it there himself.

Business in Ireland got grants and was leftto work away without paying taxes, they gotfree training for managers and could talk toscience-heads for free. Well, the same modelof supports should be offered to people, tocommunities, to Irish society in general.

Basically, give to society and people whatbusiness gets - income supports, decent back-up services and innovative ideas. What’sgood for Kerry Butter is good for you and me!

Then we may be going somewhere onceagain.

Stop blamingthe cat!

At the same time, stop blaming the ‘CelticTiger’ for all our woes – it aint all the cat’sfault, there are other reasons too. Like the1980s hit us hard, and we aren’t over all thatyet.

Yeah, we’ve got the sexiest little economy inthe world – everyone’s looking to us with envyand wonder.

The truth is we’ve currently got a prettyineffective social welfare model. The UN call aspade a spade and they says we’ve the worstrich-poor gap in the rich world (if you leaveout the USA which is so bad you can now befined in one city, Las Vegas, for giving food tothe homeless). The Government, by the way,says the UN haven’t got their glasses on andare not seeing things properly, but either waythe social welfare model in Ireland is no matchfor our economic model. Time it was!

Economy will hit a rock,if poverty ignored

So, what would we have to do to make oursocial welfare system the envy of the world?Well, first off, you wouldn’t just do it for thecraic and to impress other nations. The thingis we have reached a stage where theeconomy is shagged if we don’t deal with allour social problems. That’s what the NESCdudes say.

How so? Well, the social problems aregoing to start slowing us down.

And, if you think we’re talking about just afew thousand poor families in Darndale andBallybeg and the like, think again! Yes, we’retalking about neglected people living inneglected areas, but everyone else comes intoit too.

If you’re middle-class and have stoppeddrinking yourself silly every weekend (ah, thecarefree life!) and have a family now, youprobably pay a tonne of cash in childcare, sitin traffic for hours on the way to work andonly meet neighbours when your kid has abirthday party.

Eldercare issueseffect all of us

And you don’t know what to do aboutminding your elderly mother who is gettingshook. You dare not rely on the State to helpher after all her years, but you won’t ever getto go on hols again if she comes to live withyou.

Come to think of it, you wouldn’t like to bereliant on disability benefit if you were in hershoes – what life would that be? They don’tadvertise disability benefits like they advertiseDaz or the latest Ford car. Not exactly a statussymbol to be living off the dole these days, oroff any other State handouts.

Well, it might shock you then to know that20% of the working age population are still onbenefits of some sort (yeah, dole numbers aredown, it’s more people on lone-parent‘handouts’ and disability ‘handouts’ and thelike now).

Three thingsin our welfare

That’s another thing. We shouldn’t see themas handouts – or as charity for so-called lazypeople. It is mega-important that the welfaresystem does three things (and it doesn’t do all

these yet): - Give out income supports/benefits, but in a

nice manner. Think grants for business.- Provide training, back-up social supports

and encouragement for people to makechanges in their lives. Think training forcompanies.

- Start up little pilot projects (through localcommunity groups, for example) and if theywork, set up more of the same projects allover the place (the jargon word here is‘mainstreaming’, God help us!). Sometimestoo, a pilot project may just suit one area,well leave it at that, but keep it funded.Think research in the I.T. sector andmarketing supports.Long-term, as we said, the economy is

shagged if the social system isn’t given a rightkick up the arse so it finally gets around todealing properly with childcare, eldercare,lifelong-learning, education disadvantage,transport… things Ryanair and Tesco can’t dofor us and the Government can.

Now’s our chanceWe had no choice years ago – the country

was smashed broke. Now, we’re loaded,so let’s get started. For once (if it wasnot always the case), thereare selfish reasonsfor wanting to

help the poor. Help the poor, you help theeconomy. That’s it in one line.

One other thing! Stop thinking of the socialsystem as purely taking from the taxpayer andgiving to the poor (and stop calling people onbenefits ‘lazy’ because they don’t do paidwork!). Thing is, the penny is finally droppingwith the big boys that the health of your walletand the health of your body are connected. Asociety’s health is its wealth. If society is ill, theeconomy won’t work.

Since the 1980s, governments in theRepublic fixed the economy, the people innorth Ireland found a peace, and now it’s timeto reinvent the social welfare system.

So forget all our old ideas about the welfaresystem.

The NESC heads are calling theirbrainwave the ‘Developmental Welfare State’.It’s not exactly tripping off my tongue just yet,I’d prefer if they called it the Well Fair State,something we’d all understand quickly! Butlike Riverdance, some day it might be knownworldwide and we’ll all be smiling.

That is presuming the Government take theNESC advice.

PSEnvironment didn’t get much of a mention

in their report last year, but the NESC arepushing that as an issue too right now.

PPSDoes this summary make it any easier to

understand? What do you think? What wouldwork for your community? Can you see CDPsgetting stuck in, especially with running pilotprojects?

Email: editor@changingireland.ie

ALLEN MEAGHER puts the NESC’s idea in plain language

Summary -for the readerin a real rushTIS time to give the poor some decenthelp and sort out our wider society’sproblems. Not necessarily because itwould be a nice thing to do, butbecause otherwise the economy isshagged (not immediately, but soon).

The world looks with envy at oureconomic model. No-one looks up toour social model, but a few changescould make the social model a supersuccess. This is what one of thecountry’s biggest think-tanks (theNESC) say:

Basically, give to society and peoplewhat business gets - income supports,decent back-up services andinnovative ideas. What’s good forKerry Butter is good for you and me!

Meanwhile, everyone’s sufferingsomewhat, including the middleclasses stuck in traffic thinking ofmortgage rate rises. And everyonewould benefit from better socialservices.

That’s just a taste of what theDevelopmental Welfare State means tous, if it ever comes to pass. Currently,the Government is weighing things up.

PS There are still 20% of workingage people in Ireland living off statebenefits. 20%! The ‘Celtic Tiger’ didn’tsort everyone out, no more than it isto blame for every problem we have.

Public sometimesapproves higher taxesHIGHER taxes are not alwaysunpopular, but where public servicesare poor, the public debate runsagainst higher taxes – with peoplesaying, ‘Why would we want to putmore money into this?’

In Sweden, a tax revolt some yearsago subsided when the Governmentgot stuck into improving their publicservice systems.

15changing ireland st. mary’s cdp on king’s island, limerick celebrates 10 year anniversary

d a Well Fair State

leemmss,, ssaavvee tthhee eeccoonnoommyy!!s popular as ‘Riverdance’

these yet): - Give out income supports/benefits, but in a

nice manner. Think grants for business.- Provide training, back-up social supports

and encouragement for people to makechanges in their lives. Think training forcompanies.

- Start up little pilot projects (through localcommunity groups, for example) and if theywork, set up more of the same projects allover the place (the jargon word here is‘mainstreaming’, God help us!). Sometimestoo, a pilot project may just suit one area,well leave it at that, but keep it funded.Think research in the I.T. sector andmarketing supports.Long-term, as we said, the economy is

shagged if the social system isn’t given a rightkick up the arse so it finally gets around todealing properly with childcare, eldercare,lifelong-learning, education disadvantage,transport… things Ryanair and Tesco can’t dofor us and the Government can.

Now’s our chanceWe had no choice years ago – the country

was smashed broke. Now, we’re loaded,so let’s get started. For once (if it wasnot always the case), thereare selfish reasonsfor wanting to

help the poor. Help the poor, you help theeconomy. That’s it in one line.

One other thing! Stop thinking of the socialsystem as purely taking from the taxpayer andgiving to the poor (and stop calling people onbenefits ‘lazy’ because they don’t do paidwork!). Thing is, the penny is finally droppingwith the big boys that the health of your walletand the health of your body are connected. Asociety’s health is its wealth. If society is ill, theeconomy won’t work.

Since the 1980s, governments in theRepublic fixed the economy, the people innorth Ireland found a peace, and now it’s timeto reinvent the social welfare system.

So forget all our old ideas about the welfaresystem.

The NESC heads are calling theirbrainwave the ‘Developmental Welfare State’.It’s not exactly tripping off my tongue just yet,I’d prefer if they called it the Well Fair State,something we’d all understand quickly! Butlike Riverdance, some day it might be knownworldwide and we’ll all be smiling.

That is presuming the Government take theNESC advice.

PSEnvironment didn’t get much of a mention

in their report last year, but the NESC arepushing that as an issue too right now.

PPSDoes this summary make it any easier to

understand? What do you think? What wouldwork for your community? Can you see CDPsgetting stuck in, especially with running pilotprojects?

Email: editor@changingireland.ie

NESC’s idea in plain language

Causes of Ireland’scurrent problemsThe NESC report outlines what theCouncil see as the three major causesof Ireland’s current problems:

1. The legacy of the past, the longpast of failed development, but alsothe much more recent past – thedeep crisis in Irish society, politics,culture in the 1980s that left anenormous legacy of inequality.

2. Economics of Ireland in the last twodecades: required huge focus onjob creation and competitiveness.

3. Underlying cause is theorganisational challenge ofproviding quality services in an erain which problems are complex,where problems vary from area toarea and from family to family,and indeed person to person.

"Tracing our problems to those threedifferent causes cuts through some ofthe debates that this is all the shadowside of success, that it is (supposedly)all the shadow side of the ‘CelticTiger’. What’s going on is the longlegacy of the past, and there are hugechallenges about what wouldconstitute good services," said Rory.

16changing ireland more than 43,000 households are on local authority housing lists

If only we had a Well Fair State

WHERE does the Developmental Welfare Stateproposal come from? Who is Rory O’Donnell?What is the NESC? Where can I get the fullreport?

Dr. Rory O’Donnell is the director of theNational Economic and Social Council (NESC).

The Council is an advisory body togovernment on which sit representatives of tradeunions, employers, farm organizations, civilservants and, since the mid-1990s,representatives of the community and voluntarypillar (on equal terms with the other pillars).

The task of the Council is to try and findagreement among those very diverse interestson the strategic direction of economic and socialpolicy and to advise the Government through AnTaoiseach.

The NESC’s three-yearly overviews feed intosocial partnership programme negotiations andagreements.

The Council’s 2005 report pushed the idea of‘The Developmental Welfare State’. The report’sfindings and recommendations could changethe look, shape and feel of Ireland as we knowit.

If Government does not follow theirrecommendations, the economy is in danger ofdeteriorating, warn the NESC. If, on the otherhand, the report is acted on, people currentlyexperiencing poverty and disadvantage shouldsee their lives improve significantly in the nearfuture.

The report aimed to re-describe (1) Ireland’ssocial deficits, (2) our employment and incometrends, (3) the cause of these problems and (4)the relationship between the economy andsociety.

Rory says the report "has had significantimpact on the shape of the PartnershipProgramme ‘Towards 2016’."

Outlined here are some of the main pointsmade by Rory for changing Ireland’s WelfareState. He was speaking at the ‘Making ADifference’ North Dublin CDP conference held inthe Mansion House in Dublin on November15th:• For more information and to download the

report described above: www.nesc.ie

Economy now depends on new social policies

"The central argument of our recent reports isas follows: The long-term strength of the Irisheconomy now depends on more effective social policy (eg in childcare, eldercare,lifelong-learning, educationdisadvantage, transport, etc),"said Rory.

"For a few decades,the economicconstraints of our

situation set limits to the social possibilities.Now, we have almost reached a situationwhere the social constraints are setting thelimits to the economic possibilities," he warned.

"Equally, social policies must share someresponsibility for economic performance. Weshouldn’t think of social policy as purely theredistribution of surplus, taking economicperformance for granted, for the two are moredeeply entwined than we understood in the past.And that is a key argument in unhooking us fromsome of the polarising debates.

"The (NESC) report re-describes therelationship between the economy and society,to get beyond that debate about the economyversus society – where you have two polarisedgroups cancelling each other out (with theirarguments)," he adds.

20% are still Welfare-dependent

Ireland’s employment miracle is complex inthat it has seen a rise in the number of low,middle and high-paid jobs. However, whilethere are plenty of jobs in Ireland, not everyonehas the opportunity to take one, and we stillhave a high benefit dependency.

Rory expands on this theme: "Benefit dependency is the percentage of

working age adults who are dependent onweekly transfers from the State for theirlivelihood. That percentage has continued atabout the same level as when at its peak in the1980s – 18 to 20%. Now it has changed frompeople who were unemployed to other groups –lone parents, people with disabilities, etc. Thereare still about 20% of working age adultsdependent on State transfers for theirlivelihood.

"But that combines with increased incomes,even in the lowest social categories. The bottom20% of the Irish population have experiencedincreases in their incomes significantly fasterthan the bottom 20% in Sweden for examplewhich is a much more equal society thanIreland. So we have a complex picture of incomeand employment opportunities," he pointed out.

Social deficits hitmiddle class too

Ireland’s social deficits have an impact onnearly every member of society, the middle

classes, included, believes the NESC."Our social deficits are truly ours. They

impact in some way on nearly every family,obviously very acutely on some and less acutelyon others," said Rory.

He outlined our three major social deficits:.1. A significant minority of the Irish population

experience multiple-disadvantages andpresent policies are not adequate to addressthem.

2. There is the wider social deficit wherebypeople well above the socially-marginalisedgroup are struggling with childcare, withtheir own career development, witheldercare, and with transport problems.

3. There is a deficit in the provision for peoplein need of more intensive care, such aspeople with severe disabilities or in need ofeldercare.

Support model for businesswill work in social sector

Rory O’Donnell of the NESC said that, if youcut our welfare system down to the bare bones,it has three elements:

Income supports;Services;Innovative measures.Rory urges people to "look at the way the

State interacts with business" because it is onexactly the same terms.

"The capitalist welfare state consists of incomesupports (Ireland is a great grant-giver), services(training supports, managerial developmentsupports, marketing supports) and innovativemeasures (think of I.T., software, biotechnology).

"So, the Developmental Welfare State says todevelop each of those three elements, reformingthem and linking them more closely in ways thatare identified in particular as economic andsocial. (They should be more segmental thanthey are at present).

Rory and the NESC are asking people to"rethink what we mean by the welfare state andthe welfare system."

"Let’s forget the debate about (international)models of welfare, and instead ask regardingthe three elements of the welfare system: ‘Howwell do they address social disadvantage?’,‘How well do they support participation andinnovation?’ and ‘How well do they identify andtackle unmet needs?’

The State should provide the socialsector with the same supports that

are given to the businesssector.

Getting to know theDevelopmental Welfare State- From the horse’s mouth: Rory O’Donnell’s presentation Rory O’Donnell

17changing ireland legislation has been introduced to see prisoners get a postal vote

Anti-social and criminal behaviour

Going public oncriminal behaviour- Mahon resident, CDP co-ordinator and city councillor Chris O’Leary interviewed

"THE term ‘anti-social behaviour’ isbecoming the catch-all for a lot of what isreally criminal behaviour," says Cork’s ChrisO’Leary, a resident of Mahon, co-ordinatorof Faranree CDP and a Green Party citycouncillor.

He knows only too well. As reported in theAutumn edition of ‘Changing Ireland’, theO’Leary family home was attacked byarsonists and the family had to move out fornine weeks. Chris was convinced the attackwas linked to his outspokenness about anti-social and criminal behaviour in communities.

Many people are too afraid to speak up,but Chris publicly supports evictions andother measures. When he speaks out, he sayshe does so as a resident and local activist, asa councillor and as a CDP co-ordinator andhe condemns anti-social and criminalbehaviour in both Mahon and Faranree.

Booklet for victimsChris is currently putting together a booklet

for victims that shows ways of overcomingvictimisation.

"I don’t believe in violence or vigilantism,"Chris notes. "I am against ASBOs (‘anti-socialbehaviour orders’) too by the way. There areenough laws in this country, if only they wereall used.

Even though he is an elected member ofCork City Council, he is critical of localauthorities.

"Local authorities have a lot to takeresponsibility for. They actually reward theneighbours from hell by not doing a thingabout them. In one estate I know, the peoplein 29 out of 32 housing units have put in fortransfers.

"If evictions are needed, they must be

followed through on. I have publiclysupported evictions in the past.

"I work in Faranree and live in Mahon andthe neglect over the years has been verydamaging to the communities. If we werereally serious about eradicating poverty, therewould be a lot more money put into it. Anti-social and criminal behaviour are symptomsof a wider problem.

"I would be very critical of the Gardai.They pass the buck. Those who really needtheir support say ‘Why go to the Gaurdswhen there is nothing done?’

Chris knows he is not always loved forbeing so outspoken.

"All too often when you raise an issue ofanti-social and criminal behaviour, you getaccused of giving a place a bad name. Youare damned either way. A recent article in‘Changing Ireland’ (about Mahon in Corkbeing given a bad name) was aimed at me,without mentioning me.

"My outspokenness comes from the factthat people come to me complaining aboutthe anti-social behaviour in their areas andthey are afraid. It’s about mobilising theircommunity to improve their community andget the city council to improve things for them.

"If people do not speak up, they becomevictims of their own silence. Then nobodyknows about their problems, no-one can helpthem, they live in fear and their healthdeteriorates."

Mixing party politicswith CDP work

Chris is one of a half-dozen or more CDPvolunteers / staff around the country who mix

party politics with community developmentwork. Asked are the management membersof Faranree also members of the Green Party,he replied:

"No, they are not. There is no party politicsin the CDP," says Chris. "It doesn’t matterwhat party I am in, I am first of all an activist.We actually allow all the political parties hereto use the CDP premises to hold clinics.

"I represent the area I live in and not thearea I work in, though I will be going forwardas a Dáil candidate in the next elections.

"When I speak out, I make the distinction tospeak as a councillor," he said, adding thathe regularly reminds people when he is atwork with the CDP that he cannot deal withtheir queries there and then.

Faranree CDP have taken a number ofinitiatives in the area of anti-social andcriminal behaviour – trying to engage withgangs and also supporting residents to speakout.

"We take on people forwarded to us by theprobation service to work in the CDP andvery few of them go back to re-offend," saidChris.

Recently, the CDP held a photo exhibitionas part of the October 17th UN day markingefforts to eradicate poverty. The exhibition –featuring vandalised houses in Faranree -linked local and global poverty.

"Some local councillors who saw it said itwas very negative, but as I said to them, ‘Howdo you dress up poverty to look good?’"• For more information, contact Faranree

CDP 98 Knockpogue Ave, Farranree,Cork. Tel. 021-4211822. Fax: 021-4211823. E-mail: fareecdp@indigo.ie

The owners of this home in Faranree, Cork city,were forced out by a gang earlier this year.

Chris O’Leary

Arsonist jailedA 17-YEAR-OLD involved in thepetrol-bomb attack on the home ofthe Chris and his family atLoughmahon Road, Mahon, Cork, ataround 4 am on July 14 last, hasreceived a seven-year jail sentence.The youth pleaded guilty to a total ofsix charges including the arsonattack.

Chris said afterwards that it showsthe courts will not tolerate anti-socialand criminal behaviour.

18changing ireland sledgehammers and hurleys used in assaults: womens aid

Dublin Projects - SouthsideBawnogue Women’s Development Group,Bawneogue Youth & Community Centre, Clondalkin, Dublin 22.Chair: Marie O'BrienCo-Ord’r: Emily SmarttT: 01 4577382 F: 01 4577382E: bwdg@eircom.net

Bluebell CDP1 Bernard Curtis House, Bluebell, Dublin 12.Chair: Vincent McLellandCo-Ord’r: Mags LaffanT: 01 4601366 F: 01 4601367E: Bluebellcdp@eircom.net

Clondalkin Travellers Dev’t. Group,Clondalkin Enterprise Centre, Neilstown Rd.,Clondalkin, Dublin 22. Chair: Bridget O’ReillyCo-Ord’r: Barney JoyceT: 01 4575124 or 087 4175075 or086 8283497 F: 01 4573904E: ctdg@eircom.net

Clondalkin Women’s Network,Quarryvale Community & Leisure Centre,Greenfort Gardens, Quarryvale. Clondalkin,Dublin 22.Chair: Rita HansardCo-Ord’r: Valerie O’CarrollT: 01 6434922 F: 01 6434856E: cwn@indigo.ie

An Cosan CDP, Kiltalown Village Centre, Jobstown, Tallaght, Dublin 24Chair: Philomena O'HehirCo-Ord’r: Liz WatersT: 01 4628488 or 01 4628491 F: 01 4628496E: info@ancosan.com L.waters@ancosan.com

Ballybrack CDPThe Scout Den, Coolevin, Ballybrack, Co. DublinChair: Brenda Creigton and Tanya BreenCo-Ord’r: Tina PomphrettT: 01 2351521 F: 01 2351521E: Ballybrackcdp@eircom.net

Ballyfermot Travellers Action Project, Unit 2,Iceland building, Le Fanu Road, Grange Cross,Ballyfermot, Dublin 10Chair: Breda BerryCo-Ord’r: Paula MaddenT: 01 6264166 or 087 6412557 F: 01 6259651E: btap@eircom.net

Crumlin CDPUnit 1, Goldstone Court, Clogher Road, Crumlin, Dublin 12.Co-Ord’r: Harry MurphyT: 01 4736404 F: 01 4736388E: crumlincdp@gmail.com

Dolcain CDP, Bawneogue Enterprise & Community Centre,Clondalkin, Dublin 22.Chair: Ann CorriganCo-Ord’r: Michelle Kearns T: 01 4576053 / 5 F: 01 4576293E: swccdp@iol.ie

Dolphin House CDP227 Dolphin House, Rialto, Dublin 8Chair: Jim LawlorCo-Ord’r: John Kiely T: 01 4733834 or 087 7910991E: dolphincda@eircom.net

Drimnagh CDPJohn Bosco Youth Centre, Davitt Rd., Drimnagh, Dublin 12.Chair: Peter BurkeCo-Ord’r: Kevin ByrneT: 01 4087751 F: 01 4652065E: Peter.burke@iol.iecdpdrimnagh@hotmail.comdrimnet@eircom.net

(One CDP on the North Dublin list shouldhave been on this list for South DublinCDPs):

Holly House CDP,86 Holly St., Loughlinstown, Co. DublinCo-ordinator: Dairín WestT: 01-272-2613.M: 087-793-0946.E: hollyhousecdp@eircom.net

Inchicore CDP197 Tyreconnell Rd., Inchicore, Dublin 8Chair: Brian Keenan T: 01 4531903 F: 01 4163260E: brian@inchicorecdp.com,pat@inchicorecdp.com

Jobstown CDP49 Bawnlea Ave., Jobstown, Tallaght, Dublin 24Chair: Mary DaltonCo-Ord’r: Anne FitzpatrickT: 01 4597393E: cdpjobstown@eircom.net,annmfitzpatrick@eircom.net

Link CDP, Orchard Community Centre, Cherry Orchard Grove, Dublin 10.Chair: Ann O’ReillyCo-Ord’r: Alan Trimble T: 01 6235204 F: 01 6235204E: linkcdp@eircom.net linkalant@eircom.net

Markiewicz Community Centre 205 Decies Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10Chair: James McGouranCo-Ord’r: Billy ManganT: 01 6260118 F: 01 6260789E: billy@markiewiczcentre.com

Matt Talbot Community Trust Rear of Assumption Church, Kylemore Rd. PO Box 8372, Dublin 10.Chair: Bridget Kenny Co-Ord’r: Garret BradyT: 01 6264899 F: 01 6234021E: mtcommtrust@eircom.net

Mountwood Fitzgerald Park CDP, 71-73 Maple House, Fitzgerald Park, OffMounttown Rd.,Dun Laoghaire, Co. DublinChair: Susan StevensonCo-Ord’r: Marion WhiteT: 01 2845722 / 2842332.F: 01 2802096E: mfcdp@gofree.indigo.ie;marionwhite@eircom.net

North Clondalkin CDPChristy Melia House, 24 Neilstown Park,Clondalkin, Dublin 22.Chair: Noreen ByrneCo-Ord’r: vacantT: 01 4571744 F: 01 4575325E: cmelia@indigo.ie

Partners Training for Transformation, 24 Northbrook Rd., Ranelagh, Dublin 6Co-Ord’r: Tony O’GradyT: 01 6673440F: 01 6673438E: partners@eircom.net

Quarryvale Community House 46 Greenfort Drive, Quarryvale, Clondalkin,Dublin 22.Chair: Karen JohnsonCo-Ord’r: Rosetta DempseyT: 01 6232540 F: 01 6261470E: Quarryvalecommunityhouse@eircom.net

19changing ireland womens aid unable to answer 40% of calls to their helpline

ts - SouthsideRazvojni Projeckat Bosanske Zajednice 40 Pearse St., Dublin 2Chair: Slavica BecirovicCo-Ord’r: Zdendco ZdenkoT: 01-6719202 F: 01-6719202E: bosnian_cdp@hotmail.com

Rialto Community Network, 568 SCR, Dublin 8Chair: Tony McCarthyCo-Ord’r: Ann SwordsT: 01 4732003 F: 01 4732003E: Rialtonet@connect.ie

Ringsend Action Project CDP, Regal House, 28 Fitzwilliam St., Ringsend,Dublin 4.Chair: Charles MurphyCo-Ord’r: Joe GrennellT: 01 6607558 F: 01 6607558E: Jgrennell1@eircom.net

Robert Emmet CDPMendicity Institution, Island St., Dublin 8Chair: Bebhinn Nic Liam Co-Ord’r: Laura HastingsT: 01 6708880E: laura@recdp.ie

Ronanstown Women’s CDP43 Collinstown Grove, Clondalkin, Dublin 22.Chair: Rita SweeneyCo-Ord’r: Anne TroyT: 01 4570687 F: 01 4570373E: rwcdp1@eircom.net

Rowlagh Women's Group Aras Rualach, Neilstown Rd., Clondalkin,Dublin 22.Chair: Susan FoleyCo-Ord’r: Bernie BeatleyT: 01 6230574 or 087 9776229 F: 01 6230574E: oliveadmin@oceanfree.net

Shanganagh CDP, Shanganagh Park House,Shankill, Co. DublinChair: Georgina PottsCo-Ord’r: Anne TraynorT & F: 01 2824210E: shanganaghcdp@eircom.net

SICCDA, 90 Meath St., Dublin 8.Chair: Liam FenlonCo-Ord’r: Fr. Michael Mernagh T: 01 4536098 F: 01 4540745 E: info@siccda.ie

Southside Travellers Action Group, Unit 5, St. Kieran’s Enterprise Centre, FurzeRoad, Sandyford Industrial Est., Dublin 18.Chair: Alice BinchyCo-Ord’r: Goretti Mudzongo T: 01 2957372 F: 01 2135932E: taisteal@eircom.net

Southside Women’s Action Network, 57 Ennel Court, Loughlinstown, Dublin 18Chair: Ann CannonCo-Ord’r: Pauline Davy T: 01 2825932 or 086 1744850E: pauline@swannetwork.ie

Special Project – Long TermUnemployment, Office 1, Brookfield Enterprise Centre, Brookfield,Tallaght, Dublin 24.Co-Ord’r: Germaine LloydT: 01 4623222 F: 01 4628412E: spltu@iolfree.ie

St. Michael’s Family Resource Centre, St. Michael’s Hse., 118 St. Michael’s Est.,Inchicore, Dublin 8Co-Ord’r: Rita FaganT: 01 4533938F: 01 4734375E: frc@gofree.indigo.ie

Tallaght Travellers CDPUnit 1A, Killinarden Enterprise Park, Tallaght,Dublin 24.Chair: Mary CassidyCo-Ord’r: Orla McCaffrey T: 01 4664334 or 087 2998047 F: 01 4664344E: ttcdp@gofree.indigo.ie

Vista CDPDonore Youth & Community Centre, DonoreAve., Dublin 8.Chair: Mary WarrenCo-Ord’r: Paul RinglandT: 01 4543074 or 086 2888226 F: 01 4543409E: vistacdp@eircom.net

Women Together Tallaght Network, Unit 2, Brookfield Enterprise Centre,Tallaght,Dublin 24.Chair: Helen MurrayCo-Ord’r: Marie O'Donoghue T: 01 4627741 F: 01 4623433E: tallaghtwomen@eircom.net

West Tallaght Resource Centre 16 Glenshane Lawns, Brookfield, Tallaght,Dublin 24.Chair: Marie GreeneCo-Ord’r: Mary DanielT: 01 4522533 or 01 4522486 F: 01 4621740E: wtrc@eircom.net marydwtrc@eircom.net

CDP funding also goes to:Cherry Orchard Equine CentreCherry Orchard Green, Cherry Orchard, Dublin 10Co-Ord’r: Adeline O’BrienT: 01 6209160F: 01 6262702E: adeline@cherryorchardequinecentre.ie

Contact Programme and Ministers:The Minister and Minister of State at theDepartment of Community, Rural & GaeltachtAffairs, are based in: 43-49 Mespil Road,Dublin 4.T: 01 6473000F: 01 6473051E: eolas@pobail.ieLoCall: 1890 474 847

The Community Development Programme isadministered by the Department’s CommunityDevelopment Unit, based at: Teeling St., Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo. T: 071-9186700F: 071-9186760E: nwalsh@pobail.ie

Clarification/ correction:The following projects have contactedus regarding changes or correctionssince their details were published in ourAutumn issue.

New Ross CDP,Barrack Lane,New Ross, Co. WexfordChair: Joan WhelanCo-ord’r: Conor DervanT: 051-420664Email: newrosscdp@eircom.net

Limerick Women’s Network,5 Verdant Crescent,Kings Island,LimerickTel. 087-328-3746 (new phone no.)Co-ord’r: Liz PriceChair: Geraldine Clohessy

Tullamore Traveller Movement CDP’s correct phone number is 057-9352438.

20changing ireland funding for womens aid helpline was promised this year; an empty promise

LIMERICK Traveller Development Groupled a protest in late October outsideLimerick city hall after the councillooked ready to push ahead with a planto build a wall through Traveller familyhomes.

The 13-foot concrete wall may have goneright through the spot where at least onefamily’s caravan is located in ClonlongHalting Site. The Casey family were told tomove on, towards a road, and a questionmark hung over the order as caravans areprohibited from trespassing on public roads.

Less than 50 people attended the protest,but it highlighted the plight of the familiesconcerned and succeeded in attracting theattention of the national media.

After the protests, further meetings werearranged between the local authority, thelocal Traveller CDP and the families.

Bridget Casey of the Limerick TravellerDevelopment Group said the halting site hadbeen built to accommodate four families, "butnow there are 25 adults and 30 childrenliving on a site with no proper sanitation."

Geraldine Casey – eight months pregnantat the time of the dispute – said the stress wasunreal.

A spokesman for Limerick City Council saidthey had been given planning permission tobuild a wall around an industrial area

bordering the halting site. The wall was toprovide better security for local industry.

Further meetings between the stake-holders were planned to resolve the issue.

Families don’t want wallthrough their homes

Our anti-trespass laws condemned by EuropeTHE anti-Traveller trespass laws whichmany CDP volunteers and staff protestedagainst when they were introduced in2002 should be reviewed immediately,according to the Council of Europe.

The laws are used to stop Travellersstopping on public land for more than 24hours.

The Council’s advisory committee onthe protection of national minorities saidit was "particularly disquieting" thatlegislation that criminalises trespass has

been used against families waiting forlocal authorities to house them.

It noted that "the lack of appropriatehalting sites continues to be one of thekey problems."

The Council recommends the Irishauthorities to "ensure Travellers’representatives’ effective participation invarious bodies dealing with Travellers."

More funding for the Equality Authoritywas also called for.

In addition, the Council called for the

urgent reform of Ireland’s unfair workpermits system. Many families are splitbecause of the rules.

Meanwhile, the Council described as"impressive" the Government’s NationalAction Plan Against Racism introducedlast year.

Thousands marched in Dublin after thecontentious anti-Traveller trespass lawswere introduced.

New booklet on human rights- aimed at one-parent familiesFORMER Irish President, Mary Robinson, says the "basic humanrights" of thousands of one-parent families are being denied.

"One in six families in Ireland remain disadvantaged – legally,financially and socially," she pointed out.

Mary made the remark in the introduction to a new booklet on

how human rights law can be used to improve the life-chances ofone-parent families.

Hard copies of the booklet are available through the OneFamily organisation, formerly Cherish, (tel. 1890-662-212) andfrom their website: www.onefamily.ie

The protest outside Limerick city hall. PIC: BRENDAN CROWE

21changing ireland tell us: have you been secretly detained by the c.i.a. in ireland?

Project news

Donegal co-ordinator saysjudge’s comments ‘hurtful’THE co-ordinator of Donegal Travelers CDP,Siobhan McLoughlin, has condemned as"horrendous" the comments made by aDistrict Court judge, Thomas Fitzpatrick,about women in general.

He said it was usually women who "makeserious complaints and then withdraw them."

"This is the second time this week and I cannothelp but notice that they are mostly made bywomen," he said.

Judge Fitzpatrick made the remarks while

ticking off a woman at Letterkenny District Courtfor withdrawing an assault complaint againsther fiancé.

He allowed the charges to be withdrawn,saying they appeared to have been "spurious".

"What are you women doing?" he asked.The CDP co-ordinator was quoted in the

media condemning the Judge making"generalising and hurtful comments againstwomen."

Donegal Travellers CDP was in the midst ofthe ‘16 Days of Action Opposing Violence

Against Women’ when the comments came totheir attention.

"We are trying to organise this campaign andthen someone in a powerful position is sayinginsulting things about women," said Siobhan.

Siobhan – who will be a candidate in the nextelections - said people should consider the levelof fear and intimidation that women feel in asituation of domestic violence.

"There are 125 women dead in the last 10years from domestic violence," she pointed out.

DORAS Buí CDP (formerly theParents Alone Resource Centre) inCoolock, Dublin, celebrated its20th anniversary, on Friday,September 29th. Noel Ahern,Minister of State, at theDepartment of Community, Ruraland Gaeltacht Affairs waspresent to mark the occasion.

Doras Buí is a self-directed and self-managedorganisation that started work in 1986. Frommodest beginnings, the project raised funds fora purpose-built centre, which opened in 1992.It was the first locally based resource centre forlone parents in Ireland, managed by lone

parents themselves, whichpromotes a sense of solidarity inthe project with a strong self-helpethos.

Hundreds of local people usethe centre for information andsupport regarding social welfareentitlements, legal rights, housing,

training, second-chance education andemployment. The project provides 50 crècheplaces and also provides counselling forchildren from 4 – 12 years.

Minister Ahern said, "It is my belief that it isonly through a combination of local communityinitiatives on the ground, and support fromstatutory agencies that we can achieve the bestoutcomes for communities. Only by having yourcommunity on board can you ensure that youare genuinely meeting their needs."

Minister Ahern said his Department has seenthe benefits that its funding has brought aboutin the innovative work that Doras Buí has beeninvolved in over the past 20 years.

In addition, the project has successfullygathered the support of other governmentdepartments, statutory agencies and fundinggroups.

Doras Buí in a very practical way hassupported many people who come for the firsttime to the centre at a time of crisis or withpractical difficulties, for example, looking forsupport with housing or children sufferingbereavement or loss following maritalbreakdown.

Projects were undertaken over the summer tocelebrate the 20th anniversary of this centre.For instance, single parent families went on anumber of outings and a day’s celebration wasorganised for children involving clowns andentertainment.

For more info, contact: Doras Buí CDP,Bunratty Drive, Coolock, Dublin 17. Tel. 01-8481872 / 4811. Fax: 01-8481116. E-mail:info@dorasbui.org

20th anniversaryof Doras Buí CDP

North Wall Women’sCentre is 21NORTH Wall Women’s Centre in Dublincelebrated its 21st year in existence byhosting an awareness and fundraising eventcalled ‘Relay For Life’, on October 7th.

Held in conjunction with St. Andrew’sResource Centre, Kilbarrack CDP and the IrishCancer Society, ‘Relay For Life’ was anovernight event designed to celebrate cancersurvivors and it raised funds for palliative caretreatment for cancer sufferers.

Cancer survivors are guests of honour atthe Relay and are invited to begin the event bywalking the first lap of the course, cheered onby family, friends and teams from thecommunity. Begun in the USA, it has alreadybeen in ten other European countries, but thiswas the first time it came to Ireland.For more information please call NorthWall Women’s Centre, Lower Sherriff Street,Dublin 1, Tel: 01-8365399, Fax:01-8365452. E-mail:geraldine.odriscoll@nwwc.ie

New CDP inShanganaghTHE newest project to join theCommunity Development Programme,Shanganagh CDP, in County Dublin, heldits official Launch on Monday, December4th.

Shanganagh CDP is only a fewmonths old and was temporarily hostedby SWAN, (Southside Women’s ActionNetwork) CDP.

In June, the project took on their firstco-ordinator, Anne Traynor, and within amonth opened their office inShanganagh Park House.

"We have a very busy ManagementCommittee, representative of all aspectsof the Community," said chairperson,Georgina Potts. "At present we havelinked in with most of the groups andagencies in the area."

The CDP got their logo through acompetition in the local Scoil Mhuire,Rathsallagh (the winner was NadinePlunkett).

For more information, contact:Shanganagh CDP, Shanganagh ParkHouse, Shankill, Dublin 18. Tel. 01-282-4210. Mob. 085-735-7724. E-mail:shanganaghcdp@eircom.net

Anne Traynor, co-ordinator, and GeorginaPotts, chairperson of the new ShanganaghCDP in Dublin, presenting Nadine Plunkettwith her prize for designing the project’s logo.

22changing ireland jesus said the poor will always be with us; the c.s.o. has said how many

Community Development’s role in tackling poverty

OVER the last decade and more, there are alot less strikes in the country – and increasedprosperity – thanks to regular negotiationsbetween the Government (also referred to asthe State) and wider society. By ‘widersociety’ is meant trade unions, farmersorganisations, employers organisations,community development organisations andvarious national representative groups inthe Republic of Ireland.

The negotiations have led to nationalagreements on things like labour laws, salaryscales, social inclusion programmes and soon. These agreements are given names suchas ‘The Partnership for Prosperity andFairness’ or, the current one called ‘Towards2016’. They influence the aims and contentsof the National Development Plan. (We’ve allseen the NDP logo on the back of a bus, atthe start of a new road, or on a communitybus).

The process that leads to these nationalagreements is called Social Partnership. It’slike moving in together, long-term. Or amarriage you renegotiate every few years.

If it broke down, farmers, trade unions,community groups, and so on, would, mostlikely, return to street demonstrationsand strikes as a method to seek whatthey want for their members orcommunities.

Successful economicallyHowever, the Social Partnership

approach is now running successfully(for the economy anyway) after it wasfirst launched in 1987 whenunemployment was in double-figuresnationally and emigration was raging.Co-operation was promoted bypoliticians as the best way forward.

Since then, Social Partnership hasbeen applauded as being to a largeextent responsible for Ireland’scontinuing economic success.

The process of Partnership(accompanied by a focus on ‘Cohesion’and ‘Concensus-building’) is now a partof every county and city council’s localdevelopment planning. Most communitygroups that are funded by Governmentare obliged to co-operate with local

Partnership structures. In truth – so long as thelocal Social Partnership structures give them afair deal – local community groups are gladto co-operate as they enjoy having moreinfluence on policy matters.

Only 30% get‘a real say’

But, and there is a but, Social Partnershiphas not been as successful in dealing withpoverty and exclusion. At local level, in termsof community development work, this is aproblem; the so-called local Partnershipstructure is often only a token talking shop.That’s not the case everywhere, but it iscommon in enough places to mean hundredsof thousands of people who should be lookingforward to better lives are not.

A report in 2004 found that nearly 30% ofcommunity development activists felt thecommunity and voluntary sector had "a realsay in decision-making in the Partnershipprocess."

What about the other 70%, you might ask?The report’s authors (Powell and

Geoghegan) found that most felt that localPartnership arrangements tended more toreinforce and to extend the power of State

officials than to benefit communities.Nationally, in 2002, the Community

Platform felt obliged to walk out of a sessionof the Partnership for Prosperity and Fairnessconference because policy changes theycampaigned for were not implemented.

Some criticisms

There are some more core criticisms ofbeing in Partnership with Government (localand national) and with being funded byGovernment: On the one hand, you could saythere are less street protests because all the‘partners’ are sorting issues out in meetings.On the other hand, you could say there arefewer voices raised publicly againstGovernment policy because projects (andsome national organisations) may fearhaving their funding pulled if they complain.

Once they complain or speak up on behalfof the communities, they can do no wrongfrom a community development point of view.Perhaps, organisations get carried away withself-censorship and say too little.

Two researchers recently wrote reports forthe Combat Poverty Agency. Anna Lee saidyou cannot just blame the government.Community and Voluntary Sector

organisations are also themselves toblame for not doing the right thing bytheir communities. The secondresearcher, Brian Motherway, says thatgroups have to decide whether to ‘Stayin or step out’ of Social Partnership.

For the moment, as Brian points out,"Partnership remains at the heart ofGovernment policy, both nationally andlocally."

It will continue to do so even if a fewlocal groups ‘step out’.

Unless there is a mass exodus, locallyand nationally, the term ‘Partnership’will remain, for some time to come, aby-word among politicians andcommunity development volunteers andworkers for the way things are done.

Examples of Social Partnership atlocal level include the following:

The Social Inclusion Measurescommittees that give advice to City /County Enterprise Boards of localauthorities throughout the country.County childcare committees are also anexample of Partnership at local level.

Learning the jargon:Social Partnership- it’s like two bad kissers moving in together, long-term

By ALLEN MEAGHER

23changing ireland c.s.o. believes there is a consistent poverty ‘floor’ of 4%: tough luck, eh?

THERE is a down side to the partner-likerelationship between the Community andVoluntary Sector and the State. According toacademics and researchers, this is some of whatSocial Partnership has led to:- The State has "mutated from generous

benefactor to stern assessor."- The push to find consensus "quells radicalism

and protects established interests."- Some consultation processes undertaken by

State agencies are only tokenistic and arecharacterised by a lack of respect forcommunities.

- Community groups should decide "whether tostay in or step out" of Social Partnership withthe State. Bad as the above claims make things sound, so

far groups are staying put within local andnational Partnership structures. (Tell us if youknow any different!). It may be that the Sector haslost its balls (radicalism, if you like), or thatprojects genuinely see more advantages incontinuing to co-operate with the State.

The debate is summarised in a new reportpublished earlier this year as part of the CombatPoverty Agency’s ‘Having Your Say!’ programme.The report was written by Dr. Brian Motherwayand is a review of literature published in recentyears about ‘The Role of Community Developmentin Tackling Poverty in Ireland’.

The main discussion in the ‘Current Debates’section focuses on the tension between thepositive impacts of the national programmes interms of stability and funding set against the risksof losing radicalism and energy.

On causes of povertyIn the report, Brian quotes Rosemary Meade,

from UCC, who says there is now a tendency toassociate poverty and exclusion with certaingroups rather than attribute them to structuralcauses.

He quotes the CDP handbook (published in1999) which states that one of the core principlesof community development is "to challenge thecauses of disadvantage/poverty and to offer newopportunities for those lacking choice, power andresources."

He points out that not everyone agrees on thecauses of poverty: "Many versions of the nationalpartnership discourse tend to assume that it is arational managerial project to eliminate ‘errors’in the system and work together for solutions thatbenefit all. This is to explicitly set aside issues ofstructure, power or interests as causes ofpoverty."

He says many people "lament what they see asa lack of political radicalism in the communitysector."

It is not as if it was partnership between theC&V Sector and the State was predicted to betrouble-free. There were fears expressed early onover the "deradicalizing impact of partnership."

Partnership has quelled radicalism

According to Rosemary, the dependence (ofCommunity groups on the State for funding) andproblems associated with that have worsened inrecent years due, she says, to changes in theCommunity Development Programme where "thestate has mutated from generous benefactor tostern assessor and with its reconstruction of theterms of project funding has reminded communityorganisations of their own vulnerability."

In his report, Brian summarises Rosemary’sviews, claiming she: "goes so far as to say thatthe autonomous community sector exists no more,that all that remains is a body of state-dependentservice providers."

It sounded like an overly bleak view.Rosemary, in a phone call with ‘Changing

Ireland’ said, however, that Brian has

exaggerated her view. While she believes theindependence of the Sector has been eroded andthat there is "a great blurring between the Stateand the Community and Voluntary Sector" shewould not, for example, describe CDPs as "state-dependent service providers."

On the contrary, what is clear to this writer isthat community groups attached to variousProgrammes – including CDPs - have shown theirability (some, not all of them) to protest whennecessary as well as engage in ‘partnership’arrangements.

Returning to Brian’s report, T. Collins wrote onhow the local partnership era was "preceded bya period of worsening relationships between thestate and disadvantaged communities. This led toa growth in radical politics, including theburgeoning of Sinn Fein as a working classvoice." Local partnership, he argues, could beseen as "a sophisticated process of Statebuilding".

Meanwhile, the importance placed on findingconsensus can be responsible for quelling radicalvoices and minority voices, thereby protecting thepowerful.

Charges of tokenismThe most common charge levelled against the

Irish model of partnership is that it is tokenistic.One commentator (R. Loughry) observed fromexperience that consultation processesundertaken by state agencies were characterisedby - lack of respect and lack of empathy for thecommunities and an overall feeling of tokenism.

Rosemary Meade puts it like this: "The sectorhas been afforded a tokenistic form ofrecognition: a presence shorn of influence,participation without power."

Many also refer to the lack of resources tosupport communities in their attempts toparticipate.

The future - stay in or step out!

These concerns, writes Brian, "are the fuel forthe fiery debates about the future direction ofcommunity development in Ireland."

He says that much of the debate is about"whether to stay in or step out" and says thedilemma for community groups is whether to staywithin partnership, accepting its imperfections butworking towards removing them, or to stepoutside and adopt a more radical stance. (Thereis much more on this issue in a 2005 article byPowell & Geoghegan in the CommunityDevelopment Journal, reference bsi062)

"This debate will continue indefinitely,"stresses Brian, "There is always a tension betweenradicalism and pragmatism focused on thesector’s relationship with the state."

"But the core project should not be forgotten:Community development needs, above all else, toenable the voice of those who are excluded to beheard."

No guidance on ‘stepping out’

Unfortunately, Brian’s report does notelaborate on what ‘stepping out’ would mean inpractise for a CDP or Partnership company or thelike. More importantly, it does not elaborate onwhat it would mean, in both pros and cons, forthe communities that projects and organisationsseek/claim to work with and/or represent.

And until these matters are clarified, and untilit is clear the ‘pros’ outweigh the ‘cons’, it isunlikely there will be any major rush amongactivists, volunteers and community groups to stepaway from State funding and co-operation.

Rosemary Meade was with Glen CDPROSEMARY Meade, a UCC lecturer in theDepartment of Applied Social Studies, was amember of the voluntary board of management ofGlen CDP in Cork from 1999 up to last year.

Partnership good for the economy- but is it silencing radical voices?

’s role in tackling poverty

ALLEN MEAGHER reports

Source: www.indymedia.ie

24changing ireland c.s.o. claim: up to 200,000 people in consistent poverty beyond reach

COMMUNITY development has in manyways succeeded in informing andinfluencing policy-making in Ireland throughSocial Partnership and collaboration.

Positive developments in this regard areoccurring at all levels of Irish society, forexample:(i) effective local partnerships and RAPID

groups, (ii) the reform of local government has given

a formal role to the community, includingpeople living in poverty, on CountyDevelopment Boards,

(iii) the work of the Community Platform inrelation to national partnershipagreements,

(iv) the acceptance of NESFrecommendations that have been advisedby the voice of people living in poverty.

However, as Anna Lee describes in herrecently published report ‘CommunityDevelopment: Current Issues and Challenges’:

"The place of community development inIreland could be viewed as close to that ofthe President – important, influential but notpowerful!"

While the past 15 years in Ireland haveseen achievements, Anna believes there is "agrowing disenchantment, among activists, (a)with the view that community development isan important influence on public policy and(b) an awareness that this disenchantment islinked both to (i) the sector itself and (ii) to thewider context."

Activists are conscious of a double-edgedsword, the State now gives the sector status,but has this neutered the sector’s ability topush for radical social change?

Anna says activists are asking: "Is thecommitment to community development (as ameans of achieving positive social change)being undermined even from within the sectoritself?"

Her report notes the following changes,carrying a mix of pros and cons, over recentyears:• A shift towards partnership and consensus-

building models• Emphasis on the local level• The programme approach• A focus on the short term• A reliance on public funding• Staffing: a move towards managerialism

Anna concludes by pointing out manypositive changes that have occurred.

AAcchhiieevveemmeennttss mmaaddeeuunnddeerr ‘‘PPaarrttnneerrsshhiipp’’

Local partnershipREMEMBER the word ‘partnership’ has beenaround a long time, and ‘Social Partnership’is not its only usage in communitydevelopment. The Local Development SocialInclusion Programme (LDSIP) funds 38 area-based partnerships, 31 communitypartnerships and two employment pactsworking in deprived urban and rural areasacross Ireland. Eg The PAUL Partnership inLimerick city.

Community Development’s role in tackling poverty

National programmessupportingcommunitiesTHE number of national programmesfunded by Government to combat socialexclusion and poverty has increased inrecent years. There are three mainprogrammes that engage in communitydevelopment or are guided by communitydevelopment principles. These are theCommunity Development Programme(CDP), the Local Development SocialExclusion Programme (LDSIP) and theFamily Resource Centres (FRCs).

In addition, other programmes include:INTEGRA; New Opportunities for Women;the Peace and Reconciliation Programme;LEADER; URBAN; RAPID; Clár.

Each of these have put SocialPartnerships structures and philosophies atthe heart of their way of work.

The Partnership agreements have manypositive impacts on the nationalprogrammes in terms of stability andfunding. And such funding is an importantstatement of the Government’s willingnessto be criticised and to hear the voice ofthose who experience poverty anddisadvantage.

On the other hand, there is an inbuiltconflict when the Government fundsorganisations who say their aim is tochange the State.

‘THE Role of Community Development inTackling Poverty in Ireland - A LiteratureReview’, by Dr Brian Motherway, is a goodresource, though it is not very reader-friendly.

It covers in-depth the issue of evaluatingcommunity development work. It also looksat the nature, value and history ofcommunity development; definitions andconcepts; and, national communitydevelopment programmes; and currentdebates.

Everything is well referenced, which isideal for anyone studying community

development or seeking to get to grips withthe Community and Voluntary Sector’s pastand present.

However, it is not written in easilyunderstood English. Surely, it should beaccessible if it is part of the ‘Having YourSay!’ programme.

Proponents… proliferates… benign…posits…neo-corporatist… are all words that itis possible to replace. At the same time, thesummary at the beginning is clear-cut.

The language used in Anna Lee’s report isgenerally easier to read (an exception beingone 48 word sentence!). The layout is more

helpful. Anna’s report was also commissioned as

part of the ‘Having Your Say!’ programme, athree-year initiative (2005-2007) that has theoverall aim of strengthening the policy voicesand practices of people and communitiesliving in poverty.

For copies of either report, contact: CombatPoverty Agency, Bridgewater Centre,Conyngham Road, Islandbridge, Dublin 8.Tel: 01-670-6746. Fax: 01-670-6760. E-mail: info@combatpoverty.ie Website: www.combatpoverty.ie

Good resource, but not reader-friendly

25changing ireland today 300,000 people live in consistent poverty (eg. no money for a coat)

CDPs have matured and now need toaddress policy issues. To do this we need tocome together and open up another front inour war against social exclusion. We needto engage more on a national level. It is anatural progression and should be informedby the work we are doing at a grassrootslevel.

There are thousands of volunteers andhundred of workers involved in theCommunity Development Programme. If allthat experience, skill and knowledge could beharnessed at a national level it would be aforce for real change and social inclusion.

CDPs need to come together for mutualsupport. Increasingly we come up againstbarriers in the shape of regulations, which

are handed down to state organisations. Whether it is the rules around the numbers

needed to qualify for VEC funding or therestrictions on qualifications for a FAStraining course, these policies are oftenbarriers to many people engaging withcertain courses or programmes. CDPs mustwork more to effect change in nationalpolicies.

Small may be beautiful and it doescertainly have advantages but it is a bit of adrawback if you need to challenge bigorganisations or vested interests. CDPs aresmall fish in a big pond and sometimes haveto swim with sharks, who hunt in packs. Itwould be better if we could swim as a shoal.

CDPs united could be a realforce for change

‘We cannot be passive bystanders’

DR Michael Hardiman, counsellingpsychologist and author of ‘Healing Life’sHurts’ and ‘Children Under the Influence’,was the key speaker at a seminarorganised by Iorras Le Cheile, CDP inBelmullet, Co. Mayo, on November 30.

"We cannot be passive bystanders in acommunity (like many other communities inIreland) where families and generations arebeing ruined by the affects of alcohol," saidRose Conway-Walsh, CDP Co-ordinator.

The aim of the seminar was to examinehow alcohol and drug abuse can affectwhole families and communities.

"The suffering experienced by childrenand adults who have lived with alcohol anddrug abuse can have a devastating affecton their quality of life unless they get helpand support," said Rose.

"Often people are not aware of the

supports and professional help that isavailable to them. Others feel too ashamedto get help. This sense of shame can proveto be a heavy burden over many years.Shame for something they had no controlover and no responsibility for.

"We all know someone who has beenaffected by alcohol and we have aresponsibility to make sure that weunderstand the wider effects of its abuse,"Rose added.

Iorras Le Cheile CDP, based in Belmullet,serves the Erris area, which has apopulation of about 10,000 people.Professional services, related agencies andorganisations concerned with alcohol anddrug abuse were also represented at theseminar.

To find out more about holding seminarson alcohol or to learn more about howCDPs can respond to the issue of drugabuse, contact: Iorras Le Cheile, AmericanStreet, Belmullet, Co. Mayo.

Tel. 097-20828.

5 good reasons for a national officeTHE advantages of operating at anational level – of CDPs setting up anational office, are numerous. Here are afew, WRITES MAURICE MCCONVILLE:

1 National policy, which creates barriersto inclusion at a local level need to beaddressed at a national level.

2 Working together on policy issuesaddresses isolation and createssolidarity and makes us stronger.

3 Knowledge and experience can beshared between projects. There is noneed to re-invent the wheel.

4 We can pool resources and spread theload when we work collectively.

5 The Programme needs to develop aNational Profile and to have voice onNational Issues.

There are many more reasons for CDPsto start thinking nationally. We need toorganise more within our regions and

developing ways to feed our ideas andaspirations onto the national stage.

The National Advisory Committee(NAC) exists as a national focus and weshould use it. We also need to developour own mechanism and methods fornetworking and creating a NationalOffice. The need is there; the expertise isthere all we need is the motivation.

Think Big, Think National!

writes MAURICE McCONVILLE

Think big! Think national!

GEARÓID MacGIOBÚIN reports

Iorras Le Cheile CDP in Mayo are activelycombating alcoholism in the area.

ANNA Lee has plenty of advice for theCommunity and Voluntary Sector. In aninterview with ‘Changing Ireland’ she spokeher mind on a range of topics:

Regarding the Sector, Anna commented:"We know what divides us, less so whatunites us."

Are there any natural leaders within thesector who could steer the Sector towardsmore radical action and a collective approachto seeking change? For example, theCommunity Platform,the CommunityWorkers Co-op,Planet, The Wheel?

"Pick any one ofthose four, and theywill be able to tellyou what is wrongwith the other three.The sector isdivided," continuedAnna.

She said that for a leader to emerge, thatorganisation would have to gain the supportand respect of the entire sector before it couldspeak on behalf of everyone else.

"The Combat Poverty Agency came close afew times, but each time it was when theyworked on particular issues, and when thecampaigns were over, the influencedecreased."

One campaign that did for a time unite acluster of groups was the End Child PovertyCampaign, which Anna described as a seriousattempt to make changes.

"I know for a fact that it needledgovernment departments," she said, addingthat officials were forced to acknowledge –much as they disliked doing so – that socialwelfare allowances were excessively mean.

Activists should unite around and work onspecific themes and issues, one at a time, saysAnna: "That is best. It may be unrealistic toexpect the sector to achieve unity, to get it tospeak (continually) as a totality."

One concrete achievement by the Sector inthe past decade is that the authorities are nowobliged to consult people before makingdecisions effecting them.

"They cannot anymore defend not havingconsulted. If nothing else changed, that has."

She said the quality of consultation isanother story - it varies greatly.

"But the fact of consultation is nowembedded," she added.

"Rigorous case-making is required toaddress issues. Any argument you make incommunity work (be it to local or national

government) needs to be without holes. Youshould have your back planted against thewall, because the State is more powerful thanyou."

Anna sees plenty small examples of groupsdoing this, but especially at the local level.

"You see examples, in ‘Changing Ireland’and in ‘Poverty Today’ magazine, and it isslow and particular work. If we worked morecollectively and agreed on our problems, wewould get further," she said. "We operate

within the statusquo and it is hardto work and existas an organisationoutside it."

"People startinginto communitywork expect tomake changes, butget caught up indoing what’sdoable. When, in

our work, we meet people who need services(eg childcare), how do you manage thatalong with having a radical approach? Idon’t have a straight answer to thatquestion," she admitted.

‘‘WWee ccaannuunniittee aarroouunnddssiinnggllee iissssuueess’’

Interviewwith:Anna Lee

26changing ireland n.e.s.c: about 20% of working age adults are benefit-dependent

Who is Anna Lee?ANNA Lee is manager of the TallaghtPartnership in Dublin and is also a formerchairperson of Combat Poverty Agency(CPA).

Originally, Anna qualified as a socialworker, "but I couldn’t see the point inasking people to change when they wereoverwhelmed by chaos not of their ownmaking in their lives."

So she got stuck into anti-poverty workand community and local developmentwork.

After she made a hard-hitting speech ata CPA conference a year ago, Anna wasasked to produce a publication based onher research. The result – now availablefrom the CPA’s website and in hard copiesfrom the CPA directly – is ‘CommunityDevelopment: Current Issues andChallenges’.

Anna’s report discusses current issuesand also proposes ideas for moreeffective community development andadvocacy work.

It is available for download from thewebsite: www.cpa.ie

Current issues & challenges

Special award forKnockanrawley IN Tipperary town, Knockanrawley ResourceCentre – which includes a CDP under its roof– received a special award for ‘CommunityCare’ in this year’s Co-operation Ireland Prideof Place awards announced in October.

The special award category was given inrecognition of the support, services andresources provided to individuals of all ages,gender and ethnic background within thecommunity.

Catherine Sharpe, chairperson ofKnockanrawley centre, said everyone was"very proud" of the achievement.

To contact Knockanrawley CDP,Knockanrawley Resource Centre, Tipperarytown, Co. Tipperary. Tel. 062-52688. Fax:062-52206.

E-mail: knockanrawley@eircom.net

Good news! Fall in numbers at risk of povertyTHERE were less older people and loneparents at risk of poverty last year, as aresult of social welfare and pensionincreases, new figures from the CentralStatistics Office show.

However, Ireland still has one of thehighest rates of people at risk of poverty inthe EU.

The proportion of people at risk of povertydropped from 20% in 2004 to 18.5% lastyear. Among older people, the figure fellfrom 27% to 20%. The risk for lone parentsfell from 48% to 41%.

Other high-risk groups include unemployedpeople, the disabled people and the ill, all ofwhom are at slightly less risk of poverty nowthan before.

CDPs work with all of these target groupswithin their communities.

The European Anti-Poverty Network saidthe Government still had a long way to go toreach its target of reducing consistent povertyto 2% by next year.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party called for a€3.5 billion ‘War on Poverty’ over thecoming six years in the country’s 25 mostdisadvantaged communities. The proposal isoutlined in a policy document called ‘A FairDeal: Fighting Poverty and Exclusion inIreland’.

Short term focus"Programme support for community

development is generally provided on ashort-term basis in cycles of three, orfewer, years. There is, however, no short-term solution to poverty issues."

- Anna Lee

27changing ireland n.e.s.c: our social deficits will impact on every family in the state

"MANY community developmentorganisations have become involved in thedelivery of services as a mechanism to secureresources to support their work for socialchange," says Anna Lee in her report‘Community Development: Current Issues andChallenges’.

"It is difficult, however, to sustain both typesof activity in a single organisation. Servicedelivery is generally easier to see, is more likelyto be funded and its impact is easier to measure.

"While the putting in place of programmessuch as the Community DevelopmentProgramme and the Local Development SocialInclusion Programme has been an importantsupport for community development in Ireland,it has also created difficulties. Programmes havethe potential to significantly strengthenindividual projects. They can facilitate thesharing of learning; the identification of goodand poor practice; the building of a widercollective voice; the more effective use ofresources; a more thorough input to public

policy debates. "It is questionable, however, whether either of

the two programmes mentioned above hasrealised this potential.

"The programme approach has contributedto an increase in specialisms and thedevelopment of separate issue-based andgeographically-based projects.

"The management and accountabilityobligations of programmes can, and do, divertand dissipate the energy required for directcommunity development work. The recruitment

and effective deployment of staff is time-consuming and challenging, particularly ifdifficulties arise.

"It is, of course, essential that there is clearaccountability for the use of public resources.

"Current community development practice isstruggling to maintain a balance between afocus on process, where ‘the way the work iscarried out is as important as the programme ofdevelopment being undertaken’ (Kelleher andWhelan 1992), and the development anddelivery of services to communities.

"It is important that this balance is found,"stresses Anna.

CDPs strive to keep balance- between political action and service delivery

ent issues & challenges

Don’t blame the locals!"The factors that give rise to

poverty are generally neithercreated nor solved at local level."

- Anna Lee

The CombatPoverty Agency

The Combat Poverty Agency (CPA) is acentre for the provision of informationand training on community development.

Since its establishment in 1986, theCombat Poverty Agency has supportedand promoted community development asa way of tackling poverty.

The agency’s headquarters is in Dublin,though they work nationwide.

For instance, to find out how to… (a)Build relationships with policy-makers, (b)Work with Joint Oireachtas committees,(c) Analyse policy, and so on… log onto:www.combatpoverty.ie/havingyoursay

Communitydevelopment still torealise its potential"COMMUNITY development’s role, above all,is to advocate for radical change in thestructures that keep people poor. The sector isnot realising its full potential," claims AnnaLee.

"If we think of community development as asignificant tool for change, it has not realised itspotential."

But there are ways forward!In her report, Anna explores a number of

alternative approaches that can be adopted tobuild the effectiveness of communitydevelopment as a powerful force for socialchange. They are:• Emphasise the collective• Invest in the acquisition of skills• Be certain about your mandate• Develop the ‘authentic’ voice and the

representative voice• Build relationships with the political system• Achieve a balance between political action

and service delivery• Focus on new models of service delivery• Strive for the practical application of

empowerment.

P.T.O. ëë

Insolidaritywith theworld’spoorIN 1992, the UN General Assemblydeclared October 17th as theInternational Day for the Eradication ofPoverty, designating it as a day topromote awareness of the need toeradicate poverty and destitution in allcountries.

October 17th was marked in Ireland bySouth West Wexford CDP, BlanchardstownTraveller Development Group in Dublin,Faranree CDP in Cork, ATD Fourth World,the Combat Poverty Agency, and the IrishNational Organisation of the Unemployed,among others.

The Blanchardstown CDP asked localTravellers to photograph the issues andexperiences they meet in their daily lives,culminating in an exhibition and slideshow.

Farranree CDP held a one-day workshopand a photo exhibition. The workshop wasfor young people to discuss poverty in theirlocal area and how it could be eradicated inIreland and globally.

Meanwhile, South West Wexford CDPhosted a theatre/drama project for transitionyear students from The RamsgrangeCommunity School, Ramsgrange and TheGood Counsel School in nearby New Ross.

The project developed a participatorydrama involving young people to expressfriendship and solidarity with people whohave to live with poverty and social exclusionevery day of the year. The drama wasperformed on October 17th, naturally.

The preparatory work, performance andworkshops were filmed to be used as atraining tool by other groups.

For the past 7 years, commemorationshave also taken place in Dublin at theFamine Memorial on Custom House Quay. Abook ‘Stories of Struggle and Solidarity’ waslaunched at this year’s event by ATD FourthWorld. It is an inspiring book and worthgetting if you wish to take part in the futureand want ideas.

"The fight against poverty is a fight forhuman rights. People who struggle against

poverty are the first defenders of humanrights," said an ATD Fourth Worldspokesperson.

If you are thinking of joining in nextyear, check out the websitewww.oct17.org or email17October@eircom.ie.

Further information on the UNInternational Day for the Eradication ofPoverty is available fromwww.un.org/esa/socdev/poverty/poverty_link3.htm.

Or if you are looking for ideas toengage youth, talk to:

Sharon Kennedy, Project Co-ordinatorSWWCDP, Ramsgrange, New Ross, Co.Wexford. Tel. 051-389418. Fax: 051-389264. E-mail: swwcdg@iol.ie

Blanchardstown Traveller DevelopmentGroup, tel: 01-820 7812 or e-mail:btdg@eircom.net

Farranree CDP, tel: 021-421 1822 or e-mail: fareecdp@indigo.ie

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