news Our duty to be anti-racist
Pobal director Jerry Murphy has applauded the anti-racism work carried out by community workers over anti-Traveller websites (see pages 10-11) saying: “That’s the kind of work we’d like to see supported strategically at local and national level. Community workers and the boards of LDCs have a duty to confront racism where they see it happening and are well placed to help vulnerable people stand up for their rights.” Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs Pat Carey had a similar view when he commented in the early Autumn on the story: “Social networking sites have a responsibility to ensure that the platforms they provide aren’t being abused. Racism should be confronted however and wherever it manifests itself.” A call was made in November 2007 at a Pobal-organised conference on ‘Realising Equality’ for “the more widespread development of local integration and anti-racism strategies at city and county level.”
€32m fund giving free training to job-seekers
While the effectiveness and cohesion of national economic policies are questioned, there are in fact a raft of minor initiatives aimed at boosting the economy. Community and voluntary groups, and Local development companies have yet to take full advantage of these initiatives. Many of them are funded under the €32m Labour Market Activation Fund which is “to stimulate innovation in the provision of training and activation measures for jobseekers seeking to upskill and get back into work.” It was launched in June. Of 350 tenders received, 25 were selected, from both private and public bodies. These offer everything from free college places, to short term training in specific skills, eg multimedia, tourism, green economy. For further information on these, see the Department of Education and Skills, where a full list of the initiatives can be downloaded.
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‘Defending Ireland’s Communities’
150 or so people turned out in Galway and up to 1500 in Dublin on Sept 29th, to ‘Defend Ireland’s Communities’. The campaigners included people from CDPs and LDCs. In Galway, activists used street theatre to show how community groups who work together are more likely to be successful in fending off attacks and cutbacks. The trade unions SIPTU and IMPACT are supporting the ‘Defending Ireland’s Communities’ campaign, as are the Community Workers Co-op, Community Platform among others. The organisers expected a bigger turnout. ‘Changing Ireland’ posted a photoreport from the event in Galway on our Facebook page.
Environment a winner in ‘Claiming Our Future’ vote Saturday’s historic ‘Claiming Our Future’ event, the biggest Civil Society gig in the Republic Ireland in a generation achieved its aim of finding out what we’re FOR in a new Ireland. The top 3 values a new Ireland needs to emphasise, according to the final vote, are: equality, environmental sustainability and accountability. Organisers and indeed participants were pleasantly surprised to see people valued the environment so highly. “It was a mature choice to make,” said one seasoned activist. Also popular were policies leading to better governance and a maximum wage as well as the minimum wage. More info and reaction on: www. claimingourfuture.ie and www. changingireland.ie Also, see our interview with organiser Siobhan O’Donohue on page 5.
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