CHANGING IRELAND ISSUE 18

€2.25The National Newsletter of the COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME - funding 190 Community Development Projects

SUMMER ’06

Changing IrelandChanging IrelandISSUE 18

Put yourself in their shoes!

- ‘Hannah Paar’ immigration victims remembered

138 years on

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

INSIDE• Myths about old age• Dream! Dare! Do!

• Ballymun conference• Mayo islands get €12m

2changing ireland fact: most heart attacks happen on monday mornings

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: [email protected]: www.changingireland.ie

Editor: Allen MeagherEditorial team: Sharon Browne, Sean Dooley, Viv Sadd, Niamh Walsh, GerryMcKeever and Allen MeagherDesign: PrintZone, Limerick.Printed by: Walsh Printing Services, Castleisland, Co. Kerry

THANKS TO . . .‘Changing Ireland’ thanks everyone involved in the production of Issue 18.

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.

Cover photo: Deirdre PowerChildren in the graveyard wearing costumes made by local volunteers who aremembers of St. Mary’s CDPs women’s group: Front: Shauna Cahill, KayleighCahill, Kelly O’Donoghue, Tara Henkenbourg. Back: Orla Wallace, Dawn Ryanand Laura Ryan.

Thousands drown on the way to work

CONTENTS

Community Development principles in action 3-5

Myth-defying workshops in Roscommon 6

Queues a healthy sign 7

New Kildare CDP has 1992 roots 8

Waterford Traveller CDP and the media 9

Family Resources Centres - National up-date 10

Dream! Dare! Do! 11

Organic gardening & 12-13Community Development

Local/global affairs 14

Help me Horace 15

On the ground 16-19

Regeneration 20

Projects planning for October 17th 21

St. Margaret’s show importance of open days 22

What is it like growing up in Erris in 2006? 23

Mayo islands gets piers worth €12m 24

PRODUCED IN MOYROSS

BY THE COMMUNITY

DEVELOPMENT NETWORK

OUR front cover features children from King’s Island inLimerick acting the part of passengers from theNorwegian emigrant ship, ‘Hannah Paar’.

It’s a story that Ken Loach would enjoy turning into afilm in that it touches on many issues of relevancetoday, even though it concerns events of 138 yearsago: immigration, poverty, community, discrimination.

It is also striking that the play was produced by aCDP and a professional theatre company – with localchildren effectively writing the play. They were guidedin their acting workshops by local volunteers and bydrama professionals. Remarkable!

The greatest fear for every passenger on the‘Hannah Paar’ was of course that they would drown.

Their ship nearly went down in a mid-Atlantic storm,but managed to limp to safety in Ireland.

Today, the Mediterranean is the new ‘Atlantic’ foremigrants who are leaving Africa weekly by thethousands in an effort to sneak into ‘Fortress Europe’.Some studies say up to 40% of aspiring emigrantsdrown or die in the Sahara.

The first week of July was ‘normal’: 99 drowned inthree separate sinkings; one was shot dead trying toclimb a barrier into EU territory; two died from fallsfrom the same fence.

These tragedies don’t make ‘the news’ and wheredoes that leave us? With lessons to learn from the‘Hannah Paar’ story.

EDITORIAL

3changing ireland alert: bogus charities are operating door-to-door collecting clothes

A DEEP understanding of immigration hasbeen forged among local children and theirfamilies by St. Mary’s CDP in Limerick workingwith a local theatre company. Island Theatre’sheadquarters happens to be located in an oldchurch and graveyard and when it was foundthat immigrant children were buried in thecemetery, local children were called in to re-enact their lives:

Imagine being an emigrant child fromNorway, docked for two months in Limerick citybecause your ship needs repairs after being hitby a mid-Atlantic storm. The year is 1868. All ofyou emigrants come from the same area inNorway and know each other well. The city isstrange and new and the first time any of yousee a banana is in Limerick.

During your stay in Ireland, two of thechildren among you die, though you manage tocontinue the voyage after burying your friendsand settle successfully in the ‘new’ land ofAmerica.

Every Monday night for three months, 16local children from modern times imagined

themselves in the Norwegians’ shoes and actedout how they thought it might have been for thekids who 138 years ago lived and playedbriefly where they live and play today.

Spearheaded by volunteers from St. Mary’sCDP Women’s Group and staff from IslandTheatre Company, the historical re-enactment ofthe visit by the crew and passengers of the‘Hannah Parr’ has become an internationalsuccess.

In the USA, descendants of those whosurvived the voyage emailed the group everypiece of historical detail they knew, while theNorwegian Ambassador attended in June toofficially open an exhibition of photographs ofthe children in the play. Mayor of Limerick,Diarmuid Scully, also officiated at the opening.

The children involved in the drama classesstarted off with poor listening skills but couldnow elbow a few characters out of ‘Fair City’ ifthey tried. At the same time, members of theWomen’s Group grew so interested and adeptat drama work that they have – in a voluntarycapacity – gone on to work backstage withother theatre groups in the city.

And as drama tutor, Niamh Bowen, pointed

out, the project also added to the area’s oralhistory:

"There are the 16 children and their familiesand extended families who now know all aboutthe Hannah Parr and the emigrant childrenburied in the graveyard. These people are upand down this road every day and they willpoint to the graveyard and tell the story toothers, so it will be passed down as a piece oforal history."

The play was largely set in St. Munchin’sCemetery on King’s Island which is next to St.Mary’s Park, a local authority housing estatewhich was built beside the cemetery nearly acentury after the ‘Hannah-Paar’ departed.

First immigrantsMayor of Limerick, Diarmuid Scully, said:

"We are commemorating some of the firstimmigrants to come to Limerick, albeit withoutintending to. There are a lot of new peoplecoming now, many from eastern Europe, so it isinteresting to look back at the inter-culturalism ofa previous time."

‘Island’ children step into shoesof 19th century immigrants

Catholics protested at ‘Hannah Paar’funeralsTHE issues of immigration, inter-culturalism and discrimination were neverdiscussed openly between the youngdrama students and the adult tutor andfacilitators during the ‘Hannah Paar’workshops. But since the play was aboutforeigners of a Protestant denominationseeking refuge in Limerick, the childrenlearnt more than they may realise.

"We never mentioned the wordracism," said Joan Keehan of St. Mary’sCDP. "The attitude towards people cominginto the city was raised only in a subtleway. But the children did learn from theirdrama and eventually, in their play, theywelcomed the people that came on theship."

The historical truth, as Joan discovered,is harsh however.

"I read the old Limerick Journal articleabout their experience and they wererejected, particularly by the Catholics ofLimerick. There were protests by themoutside the cemetery when the burialstook place," said Joan.

She said it struck a cord with herbecause, when she was seven, she wasbarred by the Catholic church fromattending her grandmother’s funeral onthe excuse that she came from a mixed-religious family background.

Community Development principles in action

By ALLEN MEAGHER

Rehearsals going on inside the Church: Kayleigh Cahill, Orla Wallace, Donna-Marie O’Donnell, TaraHenkenbourg and Kelly O’Donoghue.

4 alert - the ‘third world clothing appeal’ is a fraudulent enterprisechanging ireland

By JOAN KEEHAN

ST. Mary’s Local Arts Group was set up in 1996. It is a sub-group ofSt Mary’s Community Development Project and aims to get people inthe area involved in community arts.

Previous projects include the Community Pride Festival marking themillennium, St. Patrick’s Day Parade, christmas card competitions, art,drama and pottery workshops, an exhibition of old and newphotographs of St Mary’s Parish, and a Family Arts Day.

As part of developing the 2005/07 workplan, one of the main aimswas to initiate a programme with youth to promote positive self-esteemusing the medium of art.

In 2005 the group linked with Island Theatre Company and madean application for funding to the Arts Council for a drama project, theapplication was successful and thus the ‘Hannah-Paar’ project wasborn.

The specific aims of this project were to• Introduce young people to drama with a view to confidence building

and skills development.• Use dramatic techniques to explore community issues.• Engender a sense of community pride.• Teach drama facilitation skills to community activists.

The project started in October 2005 and was based at IslandTheatre Company with sessions held every Monday evening. TheDrama Tutor was Niamh Bowen and four women from St. Mary’sWomen’s Group (Carmel Duggan, Joan Keehan, Slyvia Gibbons andCora Boland) came in to train as drama facilitators. The womentrainees went on to introduce and facilitate drama exercises with theyoung people, putting at least a hundred volunteer hours into theproject.

A photographer Deirdre Power took photos of all the sessions and

an exhibition was opened in the BelltableArts Centre in the heart of Limerick city bythe Norwegian Ambassador on June 20th.

Children aged between 10 and 12 wereselected from the local youth clubs, homework clubs and from the local schools.

The main focus of the sessions with theyoung people were in the development ofskills in the following areas: concentration,listening skills, role play, improvisation,mime and movement and characterdevelopment.

The children also undertook classes ondance and movement with Helena Enright astutor.

The performance of ‘The Hannah Parr’took place in St Mary’s Girls School on April21st and a large number attended andenjoyed the performance.

There was very good media coverage forboth the play and exhibition.

Carmel Duggan, a lifelong resident of St.Mary’s Park and a member of the localwomen’s group, said the children who tookpart were "a credit to their parents".

Carmel was one of four local women who became drama-classfacilitators and worked closely with the children in putting on the play.

For more information, contact: St. Mary’s CDP, Verdant Crescent, St.Mary’s Park, King’s Island, Limerick. Tel. 061-411076. Email:[email protected]* Joan Keehan is a part-time community development worker withSt. Mary’s CDP.

Community Development principles in action

Historical re-enactment:The CDP’s experience

Your community has stories to tell!NIAMH Bowen of Island Theatre hopes to dosomething similar to the Hannah Parr projectagain and is open to suggestions fromcommunity groups in the mid-west and a littlebeyond who have an idea for an historical re-enactment:

Part of the aim was to improve the area'sreputation and all the press we got - through PRundertaken by us in Island Theatre and by theCDP - was positive. There was never a mentionof the area being disadvantaged.

"I found it great working with the CDP'swomen's group, they took on loads of work anddid all the costuming. They have gone on now towork with other theatre groups – in a voluntarycapacity - doing costumes and backstage work.They gained transferable skills during the'Hannah Parr' project.

"It's very easy to devise a play aroundsomething that happened in your area," addedNiamh who is awaiting your community group'ssuggestions.

Contact Niamh Bowen at: Island TheatreCompany, Church Street, Kings Island, Limerick.Tel: 061-410433_Fax: 061-400997._E-mail:[email protected]_ Website:www.islandtheatrecompany.ie Niamh Bowen: open to suggestions.

5changing ireland community-run: cluain restaurant, nelson st, clonmel - tel: 052 25328

ORIGINALLY, drama tutor Niamh Bowen was goingto get the children to re-enact the funeral aroundthe graves, but this proved impossible. Headstoneswere not normally erected until a year after burialand since everyone belonging to the deceasedchildren had travelled onto America after the two-month stay in Limerick, the graves went unmarked.

So the funeral was recreated inside the church (IslandTheatre's HQ) where the indoor temperatures are oftenno different to outside.

"It's so cold here in winter, I usually wear a coat, scarfand gloves to rehearsals," remarked Niamh.

At least the children did not have to imagine the cold,church environment when Niamh asked them to role-

play, saying: "Imagine a child isjust after dying and you are therepreparing for the funeral."

After three months of one-night-a-week-training, the children wereable to act scenes out on the spotand Niamh recorded theirconversation and the scenes theydevised.

"There was a real spiritualquality to the project. Because the

graves are unmarked, the play became a remembrancefor the Norwegian children, it became acommemoration of their lives," said the drama tutor.

The ‘Hannah-Paar’ story first came to Niamh’sattention when Clair O’Haugen, aged 70, fromMinnesota, USA, wrote an article in the LimerickJournal. So she emailed him.

"His great-granduncle was on the ship. Amazingly,he is also a theatre director and said to me, ‘I’ve oftenthought this story should be made into a play’. Over themonths that followed, we exchanged 400 emails. So theplay includes a lot of indepth historic facts.

"The captain's grand-daughter also got in contactwith us, as did the grandson of the guy who owned theland the people emigrated from. They are very gratefulto the people of Limerick and know they wouldn't bewhere they are today if their predecessors hadn't madeit. They sent MP3 recordings of their recollections and Iplayed these for the children. One descendant, awoman, said the first time her great-grandmother eversaw a banana was in Limerick. So we recreated thatscene at a garden party - the children devised that scenetoo."

Using such historical records, the children recreatedthe Norwegians’ plight in the play they devised duringtheir drama classes.

in action

Spiritualquality to‘Hannah-Parr project

Discipline issuedisappeared over timeTHE Island Theatre and St. Mary’s CDPWomen’s Group carried out evaluationas the drama-project developed.

"There were a lot of discipline issuesat the beginning - sometimes we felt wewere spending 80% of our time ondiscipline - most of the children weren'table to stand in a circle for more thantwo minutes and listen to instructions,"said Niamh Bowen.

"As time went on, that stopped,particularly after the three-week breakfor Christmas, when I think they gotbored waiting to start again and beganto appreciate what they were doing.They came back full of enthusiasm, theywould be waiting for me at half-sixwhen they knew the class wasn't to startuntil seven. Their listening skillsimproved 100% and their ability to learnand understand increased.

"Now, the parents keep asking 'Howdo we keep this going? Where do weapply for funding?' All the parents wanttheir children to continue with the dramawork," added Niamh.

LLuucckkiieerr tthhaann ootthheerrssNORWEGIAN Ambassador, Tuls Hanevold,said of emigration: "The reason peopleemigrated from Norway in the 1800s werethe same as in Ireland – poverty andunemployment. Crossing the Atlantic then,many ships never reached their destination.The ‘Hannah Paar’ was lucky it was able tomake it back to Limerick."

He thanked the local community andtheatre group for remembering theemigrants, particularly the children who died.

CollaborationALICE Kennelly, chief executive of Island

Theatre Company commented, "The artistic

collaboration between ourselves and our

neighbours in St Mary’s Local Arts Group

which is a sub group of St Mary’s

Community Development Project, has been

truly productive and rewarding for all

involved."

Cannibal buried in LimerickA SIGN of how desperate life was forsailors in the 18th century is the fact thatcannibalism was not unknown.

"A cannibal is buried here," said NiamhBowen of Island Theatre, who has beenresearching burials in St. Munchin’sCemetery, Limerick.

"He is the captain of a ship that ran out offood. When that happened, he and thecrew ate the galley-boy, the lowliest of theship's crew."

Not so nice having a cannibal for aneighbour, but there is relief in knowing heis long dead!

6changing ireland main findings of evaluation of rapid programme: www.rapidkilkenny.ie

Age & OpportunityALL of Age & Opportunity's work isdesigned to challenge negative attitudes toageing and older people. They run, inconjunction with UCD, for example, aCertificate Course in Ageing and Equality.

Age & Opportunity is a national agencyand delivers age equality training to arange of organisations and offers ageequality workshops, entitled AgeWise -age, equality and you, and other trainingprogrammes._

For more information, contact Age &Opportunity at: Marino Institute ofEducation, Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9,Ireland. Tel. 01-805 7709. Fax: 01-8535117. E-mail: [email protected] site: www.olderinireland.ie

Decentralisation ofthe CommunityDevelopment UnitAS part of the Government’sDecentralisation Programme, the CommunityDevelopment Unit of the Department ofCommunity, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs areto relocate to Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo witheffect from August 14th.

As readers will be aware there havebeen some changes to the personnel in theunit over the last few months. The followingare details of the current staff members whoare due to relocate to Tubbercurry. Thecurrent telephone numbers and address forthe unit will remain in use up until August11th and projects will be notified of newtelephone and postal details prior to themove to Tubbercurry.

1. Area: Northern Region & Dublin South and County(excl Dublin 2 and Dublin 22)Contact Details:John Moran email: [email protected] Joyceemail: [email protected]

2. Area: West and Midlands Region & Dublin 2, 5, 7,9, 11, 13 &17.Contact Details: Catherine Byrneemail: [email protected] Yvonne O’ Roarke email: [email protected] Olive Kilbane email: [email protected]

3. Area: South West Region & Dublin 1, 3, 7 and 15Contact Details:Niamh Walshemail: [email protected] Loretta Moore email: [email protected]

4. Area: South East Region & Dublin 22Contact Details:Claire Walshemail: [email protected] Grainne Nic Dhonnacha email: [email protected]

Facilitators Paul Maher, Ailis Redmond and Jack Quinn from Age & Opportunity based in Dublin 9 whodelivered the Age Wise Workshop, at The White House Ballinlough, on April 28th. They are pictured withNWRCDP co-ordinator, Patricia Madden (second from left).

Myth-defyingworkshops inRoscommonNORTH West Roscommon CDP haveshocked people in the local community– older people – who mistakenlybelieved that up to 80% of olderpeople in Ireland are destined to endup in nursing homes and that nearlyas many become senile.

In conjunction with Age & Opportunity,the project held an Age Equality Workshopin the White House Hotel, Ballinlough, onFriday, April 28th. It was the second of twoworkshops, the first of which was held inBallaghaderreen in December.

The workshops challenged myths andstereotypes about ageing and older people.Part of the problem is that older peoplethemselves believe in the myths.

In the workshops, the participants wereasked, for example:(a) What percentage of Irish people over-

65 live in residential care? Some peoplepresent thought it could be as many as80%. In fact, it’s 5%.

(b) What percentage of older people sufferfrom dementia and senility? "People inour workshops rated it from 30%-70%.They were absolutely shocked at thetruth. It’s just 5%," said PatriciaMadden, North West Roscommon CDPCo-ordinator.

"It’s in our workplan to work with theelderly. People have the feeling that onceyou hit over-65, it’s all over," she continued."One man in our group got very upsetwhen he passed his 65th birthday and wasguided at a GAA match towards an ‘OAP’stile. He didn’t think of himself as ‘old-

aged’. By going through the stile, peoplealso knew his age. Similarly, why does the‘OAP’ train ticket have to be a differentcolour?"

Patricia said the workshops weredesigned to identify instances ofdiscrimination against older people. Thecourse also gave an insight intounderstanding the personal, cultural andstructural effects of ageism.

Take discrimination in the travel industryfor example. A woman in one of theRoscommmon workshops aged 72 wasbarred from going to the USA with herdaughter for a holiday. The insurancecompanies were unwilling to provide herwith cover because she was over-70. If youdo find travel insurance, it is usually doublethe price for older people.

As Patricia remarked, "You can lose yourbaggage or miss your plane at any age!"

All who participated in both workshopsfound them to be enjoyable andenlightening. North West Roscommon CDPwith Age and Opportunity hope to do moreworkshops at a later date.

And the CDP may run similar workshopsfor young people in our community, tochallenge the myths and stereotypes aboutthem.

•For further information from the CDP,contact: Patricia Madden, North West Roscommon CDP, Market Street, Ballaghaderren, Co. Roscommon. Tel. 094-9862565. E-mail: [email protected]

7changing ireland national evaluation of rapid programme: it’s slow

STAFF and volunteers at South WestWexford CDP (SWWCDP) were taken-aback, though thrilled, to see long queues ofwomen form - 450 women in all - outsidetheir Ramsgrange Centre for a healthinformation evening.

The Womens Health Kicks ’06 event tookplace on Tuesday evening, May 9th, and thequeues began at 6.30pm (the event wasscheduled to begin at 7pm) much to thesurprise of staff of the centre and up to fortyvolunteers who arrived to help out on thenight. The CDP had been prepared for acrowd but described the level of interest as as"tremendous".

The aim was to run a free eveningpromoting health awareness and healthyliving for women of all ages in the South WestWexford Area.

"It was massive," said project co-ordinator,Sharon Kennedy. She had facilitatedmeetings of the CDP’s women’s group whoorganised the event.

Health activity checks were conducted andinformation and demonstrations held to raiseawareness. The majority of women – theiraverage age was 52 - came fromCampile/Ramsgrange area but also as farafield as Foulksmills and Clongeen, most ofwhom heard about the event through friends,leaflets and the local newspapers.

On the day, the CDP project hosted TheMarie Keating Foundation Mobile CancerInformation Unit which was parked in thegrounds of the Ramsgrange Centre, andprovided cancer information and awarenessto up to sixty women.

A very popular activity on the evening werethe cholesterol, blood checks and bloodpressure health checks which were carried outby registered nurses. Fitness InstructorRosemarie Dillon and her team carried outfitness tests on hundreds of women forCardio-respiratory endurance, flexibility,

local muscle endurance, and bodycomposition.

Well-known guest speakers on the eveningincluded, Marie Ryan, Heath Promotionadviser from the Irish Cancer Society andConsultant physician Dr. Paddy McKiernan,who with his team of nurse specialistsdiscussed Heart Health Advice to a verypacked audience in the centre.

Ann Scanlon from The Irish HeartFoundation was also on hand for advice andinformation on healthy eating and physicalactivity as it relates to Heart Disease.Information was also available on smokingcessation and family planning advice .

Highlights of the evening included the fourcookery demonstrations from celebrity chefKevin Dundon of Dunbrody Country HouseHotel who demonstrated moderncontemporary cooking with a healthy flair.

In the refreshments room, staff fromWallaces Supervalu were kept very busydoing demonstrations and providing recipesfor healthy and delicious smoothies andjuices.

An introduction to complimentarytherapies, as part of a healthy lifestyle wasvery well received from the Claire AuldSkincare and Wellness Centre and localbeautician Ruth Lacey. Representatives forSam McCauleys Chemist, and CatherineErskine, a beauty consultant, provided adviceand demonstrations on skin care.

At the end of the evening each participantwas asked to complete a simple evaluation ofthe event to inform any future health eveningsfor the area.

"The staff and management of the CDP andall the volunteers involved in the considerablework put into organising this event hope thatthe evening and the programme will work toencourage all who attended to make somesmall steps to a healthier and happier well-being," said project co-ordinator SharonKennedy afterwards.

Queues a healthy sign outsideSouth-West Wexford CDP

Health checks can save lives.

450 women attended a health information meeting run by the South-West Wexford CDP.

Community arts kicks healthTHE Womens Health Kicks ’06 event wasorganized by the TATE (Taking Action TogetherEveryone) sub-group of SWWCDP. This groupis the women’s sub-group within themanagement structure of SWWCDP andconsists of voluntary members of the PATTAR(Parents and Tiny Tots at Ramsgrange) group,the Shelbourne Women’s group and the TrueTeens Group.

The event was funded through the Women’sHealth Seminars Initiative of the South EastHealth Service Executive.

The idea for the event came from membersinvolvement in a creative arts and healthproject, run in conjunction with Blue Drum Artssupport agency and the Irish Heart Foundationin 2004.

For more information, contact: South West Wexford CDP, RamsgrangeCentre, Ramsgrange, New Ross, Co. Wexford.Tel. 051-389418. E-mail: [email protected]: www.ramsgrangeproject.com (thewebsite has just been newly revamped).

8changing ireland why don’t sheep shrink when it rains?

New KildareCDP has1992 roots

14 CDPs to get more workers-Minister boostsProgramme with extra €250,000THE Community DevelopmentProgramme recently received a majorboost when Minister of State, NoelAhern, approved the recruitment ofadditional staff for 14 CDPs throughoutthe country. The posts include those ofCo-ordinator, Development worker andAdministrator and many will be part-time although in some cases thefunding allocated will allow projects toincrease the hours of staff currentlyemployed. The announcement willresult in an increased investment to theProgramme in the order of €250,000per annum.

The projects to benefit from theadditional investment are:• Cúl le Chéile, Portarlington,

Co. Laois• Edenderry CDP, Co. Offaly• North West Roscommon CDP• National Traveller Womens Forum,

Galway City• North West Kildare CDP• The Bridge CDP, Newbridge,

Co. Kildare• Clare Women’s Network• Cork Social and Health Education

Project• East Clare CDP• The Glen CDP, Cork city• West Limerick CDP• Dolphin House CDP, Dublin 8• Southside Travellers Action Group

(STAG), Dublin 18• Southside Womens Action Network

(SWAN), Loughlinstown, Co. Dublin

The funding will be released toprojects as soon as the additional staffare recruited. The extra workers willfacilitate the projects to expand theiroperations and/or to improve the levelof service currently available to thecommunities within their catchmentareas.

"The inclusion in the CommunityDevelopment Programme should enable theproject to continue to grow in stature into thefuture," said Minister Ahern.

Minister Ahern congratulated everyoneinvolved and said their dedication was"particularly evident given that the projecthas been without formal funding for anumber of years, yet has managed toprevail."

North West Kildare CDP’s origins stretchback to 1992 when the Bog of Allen ActionGroup was founded to tackle spreadingunemployment due to the closure oftraditional employers such as Bord na Monaand the ESB. It survived from then until nowwithout any core or long-term funding, butwith support from local organisations such asTeagasc, the Robertstown DevelopmentAssociation and Kildare County Council.

In October, 2005, the Chairperson, FeargaKenny, signed the contract for their project tobecome a CDP.

Over the years, communities andindividuals turned to the project as a sourceof information and practical help on manydifferent issues from insurance for communitygroups, to good practice in running eventsthough to recommending and assisting withfunding applications.

In addition, North West Kildare wasproactive, keeping in touch with communityneeds and developing and runningprogrammes to meet those needs.

From January 2005 North West Kildarecarried out needs-analysis consultationmeetings throughout the north-west area ofCounty Kildare and the findings wereincluded in their three-year workplan whichwas submitted to the Department for approvalin September.

Various people and groups helped NorthWest Kildare CDP become a reality,including: the voluntary managementmembers; local community groups whoparticipated in the Needs AnalysisConsultations; and staff from FrameworkSupport Agency.

"North West Kildare CDP, was born out ofthe belief that local communities networkingtogether and supporting each other canachieve more," said the chairperson.

The Minister, during his visit, added that hewas very pleased to see the level ofinvolvement of local people in the project.

"Community development is a long-termprocess. It requires discipline to keep theprocess and enthusiasm going and there areno quick-fixes," he added.

•For more information, contact: Bernie Hurst, co-ordinator, North West Kildare CDP, Ltd. Allenwood Enterprise Park, Naas, Co. Kildare. Tel. 045-870573. E-mail: [email protected]

On April 26th, Minister of State, Noel Ahern, officiallylaunched North West Kildare CDP’s three-year workplan.The project – running on a shoestring since it was startedup by volunteers in 1992 - is one of the newest CDPs tojoin the Community Development Programme.

9changing ireland there were 61,042 births in the republic last year

Waterford Traveller CDP and the media

Waterford minority say‘media bias’ effectschildren the mostThe media and the Travellercommunity in Waterford arenot seeing eye-to-eye.Waterford Travellers CDPrecently condemned themedia for biased coveragewhile a local radio stationclaimed that spokespersonsfrom the local Travellercommunity are so hard tofind that they have to go toDublin to get people to comeon air.

IN May, there was extensive local mediacoverage of fighting at a halting site in theBallybeg estate of Waterford city and, oneweek later, of misbehaviour by children at acity church ceremony.

Waterford Traveller CDP, whilecondemning the violence at the halting site,said the coverage was biased and theycondemned "the practice of collective blame"which only led to inciting hatred. Theyclaimed the coverage was "sometimes racist"and said they were concerned about how itwould effect children.

Though the May 12th fighting at the haltingsite led to the call-out of many Gardai, thesecond incident amounted to little more than(reported the Waterford News and Star)children using "foul language" and spillingcoca-cola as they played in the church aisles.A child was also reported "hanging over thegallery balcony."

CDP joint-co-ordinator Anna Moore told‘Changing Ireland’ that the media gave anexaggerated impression of what happened inthe church.

Commenting on radio coverage,Waterford Local Radio (WLR) presenter BillyMcCarthy said there was no way the stationallowed racist views to be aired: "I don’t

judge people by colour, class or sexualorientation, but by their behaviour. I wouldnot tolerate racism on air."

In response to media coverage of thefighting at the site, the CDP worked tohighlight "the serious negative impact that themedia response to the Kilbarry Site case hashad on the Waterford Traveller community."

The project issued a statement which said:"The Waterford Traveller CDP stronglycondemns antisocial and criminal behaviourincluding the incident that happened onTuesday, May 9th (the fighting at the haltingsite).

"However Waterford Travellers in generaland particularly those living on Kilbarry Sitehave been put on trial by the media. Themajority of Traveller families on the site hadno part in the incident. In fact they wereterrified and traumatised by the event.

"The coverage by the media has led tofears about the impact that this biased, andsometimes racist, portrayal of WaterfordTravellers will have on their lives. TheWaterford Traveller CDP have found that themajority of families on the site like the rest ofsociety are law abiding and have a dailystruggle to live in third world conditions.

"Local Travellers are concerned that thebiased coverage will further add to theirstruggle to access proper living conditions,education and equality of opportunity. LocalTravellers including many of the Kilbarry siteresidents are working hard in partnershipwith the settled community and statutoryagencies to combat poverty and worktowards integration with society.

"The Waterford Traveller CDP isparticularly concerned as to how this recentmedia negativity will impact on Travellerchildren in schools. The practice of collectiveblame and calls for collective punishment isunjust and incites hatred.

"In addition Waterford City Council – bothofficials and politicians - need to show realleadership in their commitments to providingproper accommodation in meaningfulconsultation with the local Travellercommunity.

"The disgraceful living conditions inKilbarry site contribute to bad health,depression and further marginalisation ofTraveller residents living there.

"Many Travellers are involved in training,further education and are represented onseveral committees. We are living in a multi-cultural society. Waterford Travellers have ahuge contribution to make towards this givenequal opportunity, and solidarity of the settledcommunity."

The statement from WTCDP concluded byasking the media to apply a balanced,informed and fair approach when reportingsuch incidents.

Commenting one month on, Anna said:"We issued that press release and it waspublished and we refused to be drawn furtheron the matter."

On that point, WLR were critical when‘Changing Ireland’ discussed the issue with astation representative. Asked why the stationdid not report on the fact that people inWaterford are living in "third-worldconditions" (as Waterford Travellers CDPdescribe it) and why the city council did notcollect rubbish at Kilbarry site for fourmonths, Billy McCarthy said: "How can wecover an issue without a spokesperson fromthe Travelling community?"

"As a media organisation, we find itdifficult to get any Traveller spokesperson tocome on air. They hide behind their pressstatements and, as you know, live radio needsvoices. The Broadcasting Commission ofIreland requires us to provide balance in ourcoverage and that is very hard to do whenthere is no local spokesperson. So, we haveno option but to get someone from PaveePoint in Dublin who are very good, but theyare not local," said Billy.

"I am the most anti-racist person working inradio in Ireland today," he continued, addingthat he would prefer go to his grave beforebeing racist.

Waterford Traveller CDP are based in theParish Centre, Ballybeg, Waterford. Tel.051- 357016.

ALLEN MEAGHER reports

Martin Collins, Pavee Point spokesperson.

changing ireland buddhist nuns wear masks to avoid swallowing and killing insects10

On target for 100 FRCs by year’s end

Family Resources Centres - National update

MINISTER for Social and Family Affairs, SeamusBrennan, has promised that the target set underthe National Development Plan of funding 100Family Resource Centres by the end of 2006 willbe delivered by the Government.

There are currently 91 FRCs funded bygovernment nine more groups have beenapproved for funding. Funding for theProgramme increased substantially from

€317,500 in 1994 to over €12.9 million in2006.

Minister Brennan said: " The services providedby community resource groups are oftenemotional and practical lifelines for those whomay be going through particularly traumaticsituations and experiencing a range of problemsthat combine to leave them feeling isolated andpowerless".

FRCs may become ‘significantplayers’ politically"BY 2009, we expect to have strengthenedour voice and role to such an extent that wewill be considered as an essential player inthe social partnership process," predictsPackie Kelly, the Chairperson of the FamilyResource Centres National Forum (FRCNF).

Pakie was speaking at the launch in Dublinon June 21st of the FRCNF’s three-yearstrategy.

Over that time-frame, Family ResourceCentres (FRCs) aim to become more vocal inhighlighting policies and initiatives that cansupport families in dealing with issues such aschildcare, teen services and supports for loneparents.

FRCs have had a National Forum since1998 which grew in strength in 2002 whenFRCs were given statutory recognition and theFamily Support Agency was formed.

"The emergence of Family ResourceCentres over the past decade is a directresponse to the growth in diversity of thefamily unit in terms of size, structure, supportsand needs. It is also a response to thepressures that face families in terms ofcommuting to work, accessing childcare andparticipating in training and education," saidPakie.

"Our three-year Strategic Plan sets out keyareas of growth and policy developmentwhich will give us a much stronger voice atlocal and national fora. To help promote morefamily-friendly policies and initiatives, we willbe participating on an increased number ofpolicy-formation bodies, and seekingrepresentation on Government advisorycommittees. Issues including childcareprovision and support for vulnerable anddisadvantaged families will be central to ourwork.

"Of course the future capacity of familyresource centres – and the National Forum –depends on funding. The next government

will play a central role in ensuring we havethe capacity to meet these targets.

The FRCNF strategic plan ‘SupportingFamilies, Building Communities’ was officiallylaunched by the Minister for Social andFamily Affairs, Seamus Brennan.

The Minister said the views of those peopleactive on the ground at community level areclearly reflected in the Forum’s key goals andstrategies, including: - the influencing of national policy on family

support; - the promotion of inclusive family support

practice and provision within a communitydevelopment context;

- informing the development of the FamilyResource Centre Programme;

- delivering quality training anddevelopment programmes and supports tostaff and volunteers and promoting theorganisational, resource andcommunications capacity of the Forum.He emphasised the importance of

volunteers in the success of FRCs and saluted"the critically important contribution made byResource Centres to combating disadvantage

and reaching out to the vulnerable andmarginalized".

"The overriding goal of the strategy is tosupport Family Resource Centres in ensuringfamilies enjoy fulfilling lives, free frompoverty, neglect, discrimination and abuse. Itis through a combination of local communityinitiatives on the ground and support fromstatutory agencies and other bodies that localcommunities can fully realise their potentialand play a pivotal role in helping andempowering those in difficulties," he added.

Homework clubs, pre-school care facilities,welfare advice, counselling and parentingadvice are among the diverse initiativesavailable at centres.

Minister Seamus Brennan TD, and Packie Kelly,Chair, FRC National Forum, speaking at thelaunch of 'Supporting Families, BuildingCommunities'

FRCs launchonline magazineTHE first edition of ‘The Resource’, a newonline newsletter for the Family ResourceCentre National Forum, (NFFRC) has beenproduced. It is intended to be a meansfor FRCs to stay in touch with each otherand with the National Forum.

Also, a newly revamped website hasgone online: www.familyresource.ie. Theolder website address (www.frcnf.com)will still lead people to the new site.

The launch of the newsletter coincidedwith the endorsement of the NFFRC’sstrategic plan, ‘Supporting Families,Building Communities’ and the documentis available online

DHR Communications in Dublin, a PRcompany working primarily in the non-profit sector, produce the electronicnewsletter on behalf of the NationalForum and are seeking news, tips, adviceand photographs from FRCs aroundIreland. Log on to find out more.

11changing ireland in 2005 there were 42 births to mothers aged 15 or under

“Dream! Dare! Do!’- just published by Fatima, a guidebook to regenerationAN advice manual on regenerationcalled ‘Dream, Dare, Do!’ has beenpublished by Fatima Groups United CDPand comes – free-of-charge tocommunity groups – with a DVD on theexperience.

Many local authority estates are built onland that developers would pay big money totake over wholesale. With regenerationschemes aimed at rejuvenatingdisadvantaged areas and replacing oldhousing stock, communities have beeninvolved in power-struggles to retain land forlocal residents and not have an excessiveproportion of it turned over to private use.Fatima, in particular, led by the local CDP,have succeeded against tremendous odds toensure the regeneration process was ofprimary benefit to the residents.

The book includes tips on regeneration,such as how to best handle power strugglesespecially when in negotiations with localauthorities and developers.

The publication also includes an extrasection giving tips on how people can avoidfalling into money traps with unscrupulousand illegal money-lenders.

June 30th marked the handing over of thefinal two blocks of flats by residents of FatimaMansions. Over 100 new homes have beenbuilt as part of the regeneration (featured in

the Spring edition of ‘Changing Ireland’) and13 of the 1950s-era blocks have beenknocked to make way for a regeneratedcommunity.

For more information and a copy of‘Dream, Dare, Do!’, contact:

Joe Donohue, Project Co-ordinator, Fatima Groups United CDP, 18J Fatima Mansions, Reubens St., Rialto, Dublin 8 (post is being redirectedfrom this address to their temporarypremises). Tel. 01-453-4722.

LETTERS SECTION

South Kerry Development Partnership Ltd,An tSean-Scoil,

Killorglin,Co. Kerry

Tue, 6 Jun 2006

Dear Editor,Thank you for sending Changing

Ireland. It's a great magazine that I'dnever come across before and I havepassed it on to my co-workers in thecommunity development department. I'malso very pleased with the article (‘NewSonic Youth Deterrent’, by Ger Fitzgibbon,Issue 17) and how it reflects my views -well done!

It's always reassuring to read of othercommunities facing similar issues andcreating effective responses. We'lldefinitely be subscribing in future! Takecare and thanks again.

Sarah O' Brien, Youth Officer, SKDP, An tSean-Scoil, Killorglin,Co. Kerry

On June 30th, the people of Fatima Mansions, Dublin celebrated the handing over of the final two blocksof flats for demolition. Photo: Richard Whelan.

CALL ‘CHANGING IRELAND’ WITH YOUR STORY!Send us your story and photos. ‘Changing Ireland’ regularly receives

submissions from CDPs and Support Agencies around the country. Has yourproject been included?

Be proactive – let us know about your achievements, your pilot projects,your learning, your challenges, your community’s experience?

Have you an interesting example of community development principlesat work in your area, thanks to the work of your CDP volunteers and staff?

How is your work helping to influence regional and national policychange?

Our ‘Changing Ireland’ office is located in a residential community settingin Moyross, Limerick, and is managed by the CDN Moyross (the local CDP)on behalf of the Community Development Programme. An editorial teamguides the magazine’s direction and focus. (They suggested this noticecalling for stories and photos).

Visitors are welcome to call to our office. You can also phone, fax, emailor write to ‘Changing Ireland’, as follows:

‘Changing Ireland’, c/o Community Enterprise Centre, Moyross, Limerick. Tel. 061-458011 (editor) 458090 (administrator).

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

Thank you!- Allen Meagher, Editor

changing ireland 48,000 families on local authority housing waiting list in 200412

Organic gardening and Community Development

"LOOK!" cried Lea. "Look at this plant, its allhairy!"

The child was amazed and kept strokingthe leaves of an unusual four-foot highfeathery plant resident in KnockanrawleyCDP’s Organic Garden.

Lea’s mother, community development co-ordinator Ruth Smith, looked on inamusement and asked Lea and her sisterMegan to give me a tour of the garden.

Megan had an understanding of thegarden’s set-up: "Loads of people own it," shesaid.

Ruth took over: "We are, as far as weknow, the only CDP in the country with anorganic garden attached to the centre. Theremight be another one, but we haven’t heardof it. It is the jewel of our centre."

The garden – over a half-acre of cultivatedland – was the brainchild of the late SisterJoan Madden whose work led to the settingup of the community centre inKnockanrawley.

Patchy beginnings

"Joan wanted an organic garden from thevery beginning. It started as a small patch atthe back of the community centre many yearsago and expanded patch-by-patch,"explained Maria Finn, CDP support worker.

The garden was formally established in1997 and is governed by ecological andorganic principles.

"Every Friday, we sell €10 and €20 boxesof fruit and vegetables, whatever’s in season,"said Maria. "A training project is run in thecommunity centre’s kitchen and all theproduce they use comes from the garden.They serve up high-nutrition and tasty food,rather than your old burgers and chips."

"We just got our fourth extension – I thinkthat’s it now, no-one will want to hear of uslooking for an extension grant ever again!"

The extension – involving a range offunders - includes building an eco-building inthe garden. It is being built by participants ontraining schemes and is near completion.

Training all-comersThe Organic Garden is very suitable for

people on training courses andKnockanrawley’s Training and EducationSection supports people in long-termunemployment to learn new skills. Course

participants, for instance, learn the Safepassenabling them to work on building sites.

Ruth explained: "The training is one day aweek and we negotiated with the Departmentof Social and Family Affairs for those on thedole to get a top-up payment – it’s less than€20 a week extra, but it’s something."

"They learn skills that increase theiremployability: plastering, block-laying, floor-laying, woodwork (Level 1 FETAC) andstonework."

"In the garden, we have women and men,Travellers and settled people, people whocome here through the probation system to docommunity service (time in a the garden beatsdoing time in prison). And we have volunteergardeners too."

Currently, two men on CommunityEmployment, Tony Ryan and Coimin Keating-Kelleher, and Paul Clarke, who is a FAS linkworker, are responsible for managing thegarden.

Environmentalawareness

Ruth continued: "There is a CommunityCompost Centre here and people come fromPearse Park, not many of them, but some,with their organic waste."

That anyone at all, from any part of thetown would go to the trouble of bringingsmall smelly bins of going-off household foodwaste all the way to a community centre – asagainst turfing it into the regular bin – istestament to a heightened environmentalawareness in the area.

Visitors & coursesSt. Joseph’s Primary School and the local

Gaelscoil have, class-by-class, visited thegarden to learn about composting andrecycling.

Knockanrawley also run horticulturalclasses to attract people from theneighbourhood. Gardening classes are eithercertified, like FETAC, or non-certified like themonthly ‘Basic Gardening Classes’. Coursesrun for residents’ groups have an emphasison how to make hanging baskets andcontainers.

The centre holds a couple of open dayseach year where the general public is invitedand given tips on how to, for example, killweeds without using fertilizer (do you knowhow?).

Hippies huggingtrees?

The garden also has other uses, explainedRuth: "Various local groups, on completingtheir work or course, have planted a tree herein memory of their group so that the energyof the group can still flourish."

Do they ever get labeled as a bunch ofwishy-washy hippies?

Maureen Tobin, who certainly didn’t have ahippy look, shot in: "Trees have got a greatenergy, you know!"

Added the Chairperson, Catherine Sharpe,"Other CDPs are awful jealous of us with ourgarden, wishing they had one. It is lovely tocome out here for 10 to 15 minutes for abreak."

•For more information, contactKnockanrawley Resource Centre, Tipperary Town, Co. Tipperary. Tel. 062-52688. Fax: 062-52206. Email: [email protected]

By ALLEN MEAGHER

Lea and Megan Smith in the organic garden.

Organic heart toKnockanrawley CDP

13changing ireland european anti-poverty network: www.eapn.ie/ireland

Community Development

IN 1988, the Pearse Park CommunityAssociation was formed by an election of theresidents under the leadership of the late SisterJoan Madden of the Sisters of Mercy Order.

The biggest project the association undertookwas to build Knockanrawley Resource Centre.Following a major fundraising campaign andwith the help of a FAS youth community-trainingscheme, the centre was started. It aimed to meetthe unmet needs of the local community inTipperary town and surrounding areas.

Knockanrawley Resource Centre divides itswork into five sections:

Community Development – Knockanrawleyhas worked out of a community developmentmodel of practice since it first opened and hasbeen part of the Community DevelopmentProgramme since it started in 1994. Achievingreal change in individual’s lives and within their

community is a core aim.Organic Garden – the aim is to raise

awareness about environmental issues andsustainable development and to train people.

Training and Education – providesaffordable, accessible community-basededucation and training for individuals andgroups. Say the management: "We work withpeople to break down barriers to participation,such as family responsiblities, distance,isolation, etc."

Psychotherapy and Family Therapy – goingsince 1991, dealing with everything from eatingdisorders to gambling problems to relationshipsdifficulties and a dozen other issues.

Daisychain Childcare Centre – providingaffordable childcare for up to 100 children(babies to 12-year-olds).

Main aim is not sales, but development"OUR main aim is to train people in

organic gardening and for them to see howhealth-wise it is better to eat organic," saidvolunteer gardener and sub-group member,Maureen Tobin.

"We work to raise awareness about goodfood and nutrition.Selling the producecomes after that. You work with the people,not for them, for them to help themselvesand to do it themselves."

Maureen listed off everything they grew,

a what’s what of the Irish gardening world.Besides the predictable spuds, turnips,carrots, onions and cabbage, they growmint, artichokes, garlic, green beans. Fruitsgrown include gooseberries, raspberries,strawberries, tomatoes and cucumbers.

On sales, she said, "It’s hard to competewith the normal fertilized products, but wetry to be cheaper than the supermarkets.People say they can’t taste the differencebetween the organic and the chemically-

fertilized produce, but I can!"This reporter can personally vouch for the

superiority of Knockanrawley’s organiclettuce and rhubarb, having been givensamples to test.

One patch contains a square of poppies."Don’t worry, Irish poppies are no good

for making heroin," laughed Maureen."They just add a bit of colour."

CDP in Tipp Townhas 5 sections

COMMUNITY Development Principles arefollowed by CDPs throughout the country. Thisis how Knockanrawley Resource Centre, one ofthe two CDPs based in Tipperary town,describe their work.

1. We focus our work on the needs of those inthe community who experience socialexclusion.

2. We support and encourage the community tobe involved in all aspects of the process ofidentifying and addressing their needs.

3. We value the diverse contribution of allmembers of our society and oppose unfairdiscrimination.

4. We work in partnership with other groupsand organizations, believing that by peoplecoming together we can challenge the causesof poverty and disadvantage and bringabout positive change.

5. No group or individual will have the right toimpose an agenda or pursue a personal orpolitical stance that is contrary to theseprinciples.

5 steps to Community Development

Vandalism an issueTHERE are two tunnels in KnockanrawleyOrganic Garden, one built of willowspecifically for children to play in, theother a plastic tunnel under which plantsgrow in heat.Unfortunately, children sometimes sneakin and choose to play with the wrongtunnel.Said the Chairperson, Catherine Sharpe:"Four youngsters – they couldn’t havebeen much higher than my knee –climbed up onto the plastic tunnel (agreenhouse) and rant along the roof ofit. Look at the holes where they ranalong."The holes were wide enough to stick yourhead through and feel the heat insidebillowing out. Lettuces and other greenswere now susceptible to cold andtemperatures were due to drop to anunseasonally low 7 degrees celsius thenight I visited in June."Usually people living around are goodto keep an eye on the gardens. 99.9% ofthe people in the area are fantastic,"said the Chairperson.The Willow Tunnel, and an arch, whichmost children play in, were constructedby men’s and women’s groups attachedto the Knockanrawley project.

DURING our tour of KnockanrawleyOrganic Garden, chairperson, CatherineSharpe, remarked: "The local authority gaveus a 99 year lease."

With some concern in her voice, supportworker Maria Finn piped up: "What will we

do when that is up?""Well," laughed Catherine, "I’ll be long

gone anyway!"In fairness, Knockanrawley CDP

management committee have 87 years left tofigure out that move.

No panic for now

14changing ireland last year most births (60%) in limerick occurred outside marriage

EACH May, Louisburgh CDP co-organises theDoolough Commemorative Famine Walkwith Dublin-based campaign group, ActionFrom Ireland (Afri). This year, the 150thanniversary of the birth of Michael Davitt,several hundred people were drawn toLouisburgh by the theme of the walk: Landfor People, not for Profit.

They gathered at the lakeside in thespectacular Delphi valley to listen to walkleaders Christy Moore, Owens Wiwa (brotherof the late Ken Saro Wiwa) and Rossport Fiveactivist Vincent McGrath, before setting off onthe eleven-mile walk back to Louisburgh. Theroute is the same one taken by starvingpeople in March 1849 when they wereturned away from the doors of Delphi Lodge

and forced to walk back to the town throughwind and snow. Many people perished onthat journey.

As an integral part of its involvement inorganising the Famine Walk, Louisburgh CDPworks each year with three local primaryschools in the weeks leading up to the walk.

The children explore the year's chosentheme through drama, music and art and givea performance of their work to both visitorsand the local community on the eve of thewalk. Local children also play music for thewalkers as they assemble at the starting point.

To round of the weekend's event, a Céilíbrings visitors and Louisburgh peopletogether for a great session of traditionalmusic, song and dance.

If you missed the opportunity to take partthis year, mark it into your diary for 2007.The walk takes place on the last Saturday inMay each year. As an act of solidarity withoppressed people, or simply as an act ofremembrance, it is a venture that leaves amarked impression on every walker.

For more information, contact: LouisburghCDP, The Pastoral Centre, Long Street, Louisburgh, Co. Mayo.Tel.No.:098-66218. Fax.No.:098-66412. E-mail:[email protected] Contact Afri at: 134 Phibsborough Road, Dublin 7. Tel: 01-882 7563/7581. Fax: 01-882-7576. E-mail: [email protected]

Clare youth learn of local choices, global impact

THE Every Moment Counts (EMC) Youth Clubin Scariff, set up by East Clare CDP, haslearnt how to strike back at companies whounderpay and exploit employees indeveloping countries; by choosing asconsumers to buy only Fairtrade Products.

Ana Flynn is a teenager with the club andwrote this report:

On the morning of March 11th last, myselfand seven other emclings (members of EMCyouth group) headed up to Dublin with two ofour club leaders, Tracey Doyle and KatieMcGough to partake in an art-basedworkshop on fair-trade organised by theNational Youth Council of Ireland.

There were two other groups there, bothfrom Dublin.

Once we had been introduced to theworkshop leaders we talked about howcurrencies work and what happens whenmoney becomes worthless.

We were then put into groups and each ofus had to come up with our own currency.

Then within our groups we had to discusseach currency and decide which one wasstrongest.

Once that agreement had been made eachmember of each group got 100 units of thechosen currency, then we each got cards withproducts on them. So by buying and sellingthe cards you had to end up with one card ofeach product and as much money as youcould.

But there was a catch, the leader in eachgroup made up the rules and of course theywanted to win so they made them up to suitthemselves.

This game is similar to the way things gowhen rich countries trade with poorer thirdworld countries. The rich countries make therules to suit themselves leaving the poorcountries with the bad end of the deal.

When the World Trade Organisation(WTO) meets to set the trading regulations,wealthier countries can afford to send 3-4representatives each whereas poorercountries can only just afford to send one.

The WTO have approximately 350meetings a year but the third world countriescan only afford to attend 3-4 of these.

This is what prevents third world countriesfrom moving up and breaking free of poverty.

We also looked at labour issues and

underpayment.Can you imagine waking up at 6am every

morning, going to work in a filthy factory ora plantation and working until 6pm thatevening without a lunch or toilet break, andthen getting an extremely poor wage?

It just doesn’t seem right!When buying fair-trade produce you can

be sure that the farmers and workers aregetting the money that they have so rightfullyearned.

This is why fair-trade is just one step wecan take to make this a better poverty freeworld.

Overall the workshop was very interestingand opened our eyes to just some of theproblems happening in third world countries.

It also helped us to realise that you can startto fix these problems in your own home; youdon’t have to be there to make a difference!

* EMC youth club was set up by volunteersand staff of East Clare CDP. The EMC havejust completed a camping trip are next offon cross-border exchange programme inCarlingford, Co. Louth.

Doolough famine walkDoolough famine walkLocal/global

By ANA FLYNN

© D. Speirs.

15changing ireland can vegetarians eat animal crackers?

I feel unreadDear Horace,THERE’S a man on my road and he reads thetelephone directory (he says you can’t beatit for the number of characters in the story,though the plot sucks) but he still won’t readour CDP annual report.

Well, in desperation, this year I stapledour annual report to my head in the hopethat the doctor would read it while removingit. He was rather busy however.

Do you think the newcomers in theDepartment might read it?

Annie Reading,Co-ordinator‘We Never Fail’ CDP,Hilloffeckinnettles,Mid-South-East Region WestHorace Helps

Dear Annie,Thank you for your recent correspondence.

I have passed it onto the appropriate personwho will take note of its contents. If I can beof any further assistance in the future pleasedon’t hesitate to contact me. Yawn!

Yours sincerelyHorace

Bored gamesHelp me Horace!MY name is Minister O’Peeved. I am bored.I have nearly put all my toys into one box,so things are nice and tidy and easy to find.My problem is I may have damaged some ofthem trying to squeeze everything into theone box. My "See The Pea" puzzle gamehas nearly 200 pieces could I join up someor get rid of a few to make it easier even ifthe bigger picture would be lost?

M. N. O’Peeved

Horace HelpsDear M. N.,As they say "Toys will be toys" but maybe

you should watch the film ‘Toy Story' becauseyou would learn to be kind to your toys - theymay bite back.

Should I stay or should I go?

Help me Horace!I AM chairperson of my CDP and I am veryconfused by the new directives from theDepartment of CRAGGY. It seems we have toget rid of everyone on the managementcommittee and replace them. Basically if wehave any volunteer there for six years ormore they have to go.

We’re trying to write the job spec for newmembers? The ideal candidates must haveno previous experience, and have shown noprior interest in community initiatives. Is thisright?

Chairio!

Dear Chairio,No previous experience - why not get Ray

D’Arcy down to do auditions? Yourrecruitment drive could become a hit tv seriesand give the Community DevelopmentProgramme a major boost.

You could have a parallel series followingthe statutory personnel who are put on thecommittees called "I’m a Civil Servant Get MeOut of Here!".

Horace and Dec

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

President visits CDP inLetterfrack

A COUPLE of hundredConnemara people crammedinto Ellis Hall in Letterfrack tohear Mary Gannon ofFORUM CDP welcomePresident Mary McAleeserecently.

The President was there tomeet staff and representativesof FORUM, now well into itssecond decade of work in thearea.

She highlighted the work ofFORUM in using its local eyeto improve the lives ofindividuals, to make theirlives less problematic, to

include them and ensure theyare part of a real ruralcommunity.

"It would be very easy tolive life as strangers in ascattered community, and tolose sight of the fact thatpeople can live quite lonelylives," she remarked. "It’s theright way to live, isn’t it,keeping an eye out for oneand other, making Ireland anicer, better, more decent,hope-filled place to live."

FORUM director, JohnCoyne, thanked the Presidenton behalf of the community.

Volunteers atLouth asylum-seekers showVOLUNTEERS from CDPs in Co. Louth were among over 150women, who attended a cultural celebration on Friday, June16th, at Mosney Accommodation Centre, Julianstown, Co.Meath.

The event - called ‘Weaving Cultural Threads’ - was organised bywomen asylum-seekers from over 12 countries living in the Mosneycentre. The idea: to promote cultural empowerment.

The organisers were reportedly overwhelmed with the level ofinterest the celebration generated and glad to see that people caredabout their plight more than they may have realised.

Women presented the culture, traditions, landscapes, history,economy and tourist spots of their countries to an avid audience. Manyworked very hard on their English language skills to deliver thepresentation and demonstrate the cultural wealth existing among theasylum-seeking community, throughout the country.

Weaving Cultural Threads aimed to raise awareness of the positiveimpact that asylum-seekers can have on society and to counteract thenegative attitudes too often appearing in our media.

The event was an example of collaboration between The MosneyAccommodation Centre, cross-border project Communities Connectand a victims group working in Northern Ireland. Countriesrepresented included Kosovo, Nigeria, Malawi, Somalia and Pakistan.

16changing ireland why do 21% of people in the republic still face poverty?

On the ground

Are CDPs being askedto change too much?ONE of the key reasons for holding therecent Ballymun conference, accordingto Cathleen O’Neill, project co-ordinatorwith Kilbarrack CDP, was to alertcommunity and voluntary groups "to bevigilant" about the future of theCommunity Development Programme.

This has been a continual theme throughoutthe Programme’s history, partly because itdoes not have statutory basis and usually runsfrom one three-year phase to another. In2007, the Programme enters a new phase.The Department of Community, Rural andGaeltacht Affairs administers and funds theProgramme.

Though the Programme is runningsuccessfully for over 15 years, projects areforever concerned with retaining autonomyand independence and with continuing tooperate from community developmentprinciples. However, they must also follow,from time-to-time, top-down policy decisions.

Cathleen’s points raise the question – AreCDPs being asked to change too much?

"In the recent past community developmentgroups in the Clondalkin area have been toldto merge their groups because too manygroups were deemed to be working withwomen," noted Cathleen. "They were left tosort this problem out themselves."

She mentioned the directive to projects a

couple of years ago from the Department thatinstructed CDPs (among other local groupsand agencies) to submit their workplans toCity / County Development Boards forapproval.

"More chaos ensued when anotherdirective told us to give the work-plans tothese agencies for comment only. Amidst allthe chaos though, a clear line is developingthat is threatening to community developmentpractise.

"More recent directives from the samedepartment relate to the board make-up ofCDP voluntary management committees. Weare basically being told who to have on ourboards – and more importantly, tellingcommunity workers what boards they can orcannot be on.

"We need to be careful folks that we retainall the skills in the community, that we protectthe careful and equality-ensuring processesand practises that have been built up. Weneed to guard against being seduced intoservice provision agreements that run counterto what we know works well and issustainable.

"Service led agreements have their part toplay – and there are very good peopleworking in this area who also need to besupported. But we should not confuse thetwo," she warned.

INTRODUCTION:

Ballymunconferenceraises timelyquestionsTWO of the main speakers at aconference held on May 25th atthe Axis Centre, Ballymun,Dublin, questioned how bestCDPs can work with theircommunities when variouschanges to the way CDPsoperate have been pushedpolitically from the top-down.

There was much emphasis onthe promotion by theDepartment of Community,Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs of aservice-delivery model for CDPs.How, asked the speakers, doesthis square with the projects’community development aims?

Joan Byrne (CommunityAction Programme CDP,Ballymun) and Cathleen O’Neill(Kilbarrack CDP) addressed theimportance of communitydevelopment and serviceprovision. And they examinedthe key differences between thetwo.

Cathleen also reported thather community’s general healthis in a worse condition nowthan before the ‘Celtic Tiger’arrived, though the CDP isworking to improve matters.Joan, meanwhile, examinedBallymun’s activist history andits needs now.

The conference was organisedby the Ballymun CommunityOrganisations Network (BCON)and the theme was: ‘FromCapacity-Building to BuildingCapacity to Influence’.

Minister - CDPs funding “is safe”COMMUNITY Development Projects willcontinue to receive funding "to 2007 andbeyond" according to Minister of State,Noel Ahern.

"As Minister of State responsible for thisarea, I want to assure everyone…thatfunding for the Community DevelopmentProjects will continue to 2007 and beyond.

"Voluntary and community groups, overthe years, have pioneered many creativeapproaches to tackling the most profoundsocial problems, in ways that Governmentsalone cannot do. It is my belief that it isonly through a combination of localcommunity initiatives on the ground andsupport from statutory agencies that wecan achieve the best outcomes forcommunities."

He was speaking in April at the officiallaunch of North West Kildare CDP’s three-year workplan.

He added, complimenting North WestKildare CDP: "Only by having your

community on board can you ensure thatyou are genuinely meeting their needs."

Minister of State, Noel Ahern.

17changing ireland average life expectancy is 78 for irish men, 80 for women

JOAN BYRNE, chairperson ofCommunity Action Programme CDP, inBallymun, believes that more and morecommunity development is being"neutered down to pure servicedelivery". She told the conferenceaudience in Ballymun recently:

"Many missives and directives have beenhanded down by the policy makers over theyears. Directives telling us how to do ourwork, telling us what work we should bedoing, how many people we should betargeting, how many people should be onour committees, who those people shouldbe, what committees we cannot sit on (I kidyou not!) …..

"None of those directives ever tookcognisance of the fact that a community is adynamic, pulsating, ever changing force andneeds to be given the space to breathe sothat it can determine its own needs and howbest to manage its affairs.

"These structures have made it next toimpossible for local people to engage incommunity development," she continued.She pointed, in evidence, to "thecomplexities of the current structures" and

"the demands of partnership, the conditionsof funding, the demands for service plans(and) the demand for action plans to beapproved at local authority and governmentlevel."

She said, "These have all served to ensurethat more and more community developmentis being neutered down to pure servicedelivery.

"Don’t get me wrong – service delivery iscritical for an area like Ballymun – butservice delivery in the absence ofdevelopment work and capacity building(which enables a community to keepdeveloping, keep responding to emergingneeds and keep its sense of ownershiparound what happens) will eventually meanthat the community no longer has a say in itsfuture.

"If we simply go down the road of servicedelivery and don’t dedicate resources toempower community members to respond toemerging needs, we will strangle the veryprocess that we fought long and hard toestablish," she added.

Joan said that the accumulated impact ofthe various directives, instructions, "barriers"and policies may overwhelm communities.

Is communitydevelopment being“neutered to pureservice delivery?

The challenge tolocal groups

The challenge to local groups andorganisations is:• to retain their autonomy, • their right to disagree, • their right to say no, • to protect their ability to respond

quickly and fight the fires, • their right to define their own world,

what their community needs are andhow best to go about getting the bestfor every tenant and resident in theirarea The alternative is that we end up

administering our own poverty. In shortCommunity Development is true activecitizenship.

Joan Byrne

e ground

CommunityDevelopment vCommunity Work- they mean different thingsCATHLEEN O’Neill, project co-ordinator ofKilbarrack CDP says: "The terms communitydevelopment and community work are forexample frequently used interchangeably,although they mean different things.

"Community development is best used to referto a process, or a way of doing something, whichentails the mobilisation, participation andinvolvement of local people on common issuesimportant to them.

"Community work or service provision, on theother hand, is often used as a general term andrefers to initiatives or activities that are deliveredat a local level that may not actively involvemembers of the community as participants butmerely as users of services.

"It is important to stress that both options havean important role to play and have made animportant contribution – but they should not beconfused as one and the same," she says.

MostresponseseverTHE Department received the biggest number ofsubmissions and responses ever from CDPsafter issuing a directive to projects telling themhow their boards should be set up and whoshould and should not be on the boards.

A response to the directives was compiled byCDPs in the various regions as well as by theCommunity Workers’ Co-operative, CombatPoverty Agency and the Support AgencyNetwork.

18changing ireland measure economic progress against the gap between rich and poor!

PROJECT co-ordinator, Cathleen O’Neill hasa very clear picture of the talent that entersa room when there is a meeting of thevolunteer management committee ofKilbarrack CDP, Dublin. She sees local KofiAnnans and Mary Robinsons walking intothe room.

"Our voluntary board of management areexpert employers, wizards at labour law andlegislation, top class at understandingEuropean Funding, they have the negotiationskills of Kofi Annan or our own MaryRobinson – and they are at the beck and callof project staff any time we need them – all inall making them good value for money as avoluntary group," she said in her recentconference address.

Cathleen’s summary of a goodmanagement board’s skills, know-how andabilities bears testament to the amount andvariety of work volunteers in CDPs can getinvolved in:

"Our voluntary board also bear the legalburden for the project and the community.They obtained these skills and experiences

through their work at a community level – andon a nationwide basis people like them havehelped to make their own world and ourworld a better to place for all."

"Our community numbers 12,500 people,who, despite the Celtic Tiger, still live in anarea of designated disadvantage. We havehigh numbers of young people, high levels oflone parents, high levels of early schoolleavers and extremely high levels of ill health.We know all of this because we consult andcommunicate with our target population veryfrequently. And because they come and tell usanyway!

"We hold regular community suppers andcoffee mornings as a way of keeping in touchwith people and hearing their views on abroad range of issues. And we are alsocharged with consulting our local communityabout changes they wish to make orcapacities they wish to build.

"We work in a particular way, with aparticular process and a particular set ofcommunity development principles and ethos.Working from the ground up and doing it

with communities, not for communities,"Cathleen continued.

"The people (we are concerned with) areour local community and target population,our local voluntary management group, ourstaff team, our regular funders and anyoneelse we can get to throw us a few bob. Weare networked to all the key agencies such asWomen’s Aid, Children’s Rights Alliance,Cadic, Banulacht, etc."

She recalled her project’s definition ofcommunity development. It was defined 30years ago and has never needed to bechanged:

"To establish, promote and operate acommunity development programme, whichwill act as a focus and catalyst for communitydevelopment for the community of Kilbarrackand surrounding areas, with a view topromoting their economic and culturalwelfare – and particularly to empowerspecific disadvantaged groups to effectivelyparticipate in a programme of personal andsocial development."

Kilbarrack volunteers havethe skills of a UN leader

CDP approach to healthissues will save lives- where healthservice failed to respond

CATHLEEN O’Neill highlighted how servicedelivery can sometimes be best approachedfrom a community development viewpoint. Itcan even save lives.

In Kilbarrack, Dublin, the local CDPintroduced a new model for providing localhealth services after the Health Board hadshown they were unable to respondeffectively.

Cathleen told the Ballymun conference: "In1992 a report was published by the CombatPoverty Agency based on a random survey inKilbarrack where 68% of the local communitywere found to have serious health problemsthat local people directly related tounemployment and intergenerational poverty.

"Then along came the economic boom andthe rising tide lifts all boats etcetera, except inKilbarrack where health problems increasedduring the boom – with less access to medicaland hospital services. In a smallneighbourhood of 500 homes more than 90people died from cancer and heart disease.Other illnesses also increased.

"Local health service providers failed tomake a response despite several calls to doso. I worked for three years with the local

community in an effort to obtain funding toset up a Primary Health Care TrainingInitiative. Local Health boards and healthpromotion groups were unable to help.

"It was a community development initiativethat finally brought about a result. KilbarrackCDP set up a women’s health group andworked with them for two years to build upcapacity and expertise. This finally enabledthem to obtain funding for 25 women whowill eventually set up a local respite centre tooffer a range of therapies and massage andother treatments to families who are dealingwith long term illness.

"Each woman who is getting training willeventually be able to create a job for herself –and they have all made a commitment towork in the local community as a way ofgiving back something to the community, thusdemonstrating a big difference between acommunity development process and aservice provision process.

"The community development processenabled people to own the process and to beactive agents of change. Whereas the serviceprovision process made people passiverecipients," concluded Cathleen.

On the ground

19changing ireland tis vice-versa: nod left-to-right to say ‘yes’ in the balkans

By Joan ByrneChair, Community Action Programme,Ballymun

JOAN Byrne outlined a potted history oftop-down policy disasters, and successes, asthey impacted on the Ballymun communityand on the Community Action ProgrammeCDP which she currently chairs.

There had been massive changes inCommunity Development in Ballymun over thelast 20 years, she said:

"Back in the late 80’s and early 90’sBallymun was a poor, struggling community.We had enormous social and economicproblems. We had the highest levels ofunemployment in the country, chronic housingconditions with little or no housingmaintenance, and poor educationalachievements. We had an emerging andever-growing drug problem, seriouscommunity mental health issues and very littlelocal services and facilities.

"Many community activists who formedaction groups to protest against the wrongs inour community."

She recalled, as an example, the hardshipcaused by the almost-year-long liftmaintenance workers strike when thecommunity rose up by blocking the roads inprotest.

To such problems, Joan argued, the Statedid nothing.

"Well maybe that’s not quite true," shecontinued critically. "Here are just two

examples of their insightful, well thought outpolicies which had a major impact on ourcommunity:

"Firstly, they introduced the £5000 housinggrant scheme which gave everyone £5000 ifthey handed back their key to DublinCorporation. This gave many workingfamilies the opportunity to put a deposit ontheir own home and move out of the areawhich they did in their droves.

"Another policy which I remember at thetime having a huge impact on the communitywas the Care in the Community Policywhereby many mental health patients werereleased from institutions back into thecommunity with abysmal supports. Many ofthese people came to live here in Ballymunwith no supports and very little resources tofend for themselves. At one time DublinCorporation even introduced a policy ofsubletting one flat to two people who hadbeen in mental institutions," noted Joan.

She recalled the community response at thetime. The community got together in everincreasing numbers, tenants associationswere formed, networking began, publicmeetings were called and plans formulated.

"The Community hosted its first CommunityLeadership Training Programme and manypositive initiatives came out of that firstprogramme. Just to mention a few:

- The Suss Centre (the first welfare rightscentre in the area),

- Aobhneas Womens Refuge – initiallyestablished in a three bedroomed flat inSillogue Road – they now have a purpose

built refuge in Coolock, - The Ballymun Enterprise – a second hand

clothes shop that operated from the basementof one of the Towers. I remember it as a lifesaver for people like myself on low incomes atthe time.

- The Web – a youth group operating outof another tower basement."

Joan went on to list nearly 20 moreinitiatives started by locals.

"All of these initiatives came from thecommunity. There was huge energy aroundthe place at the time – despite its negativeimage and problems. Nearly everyonewanted to do something. There were moreaction groups than you could shake a stickat," she added.

"TODAY we have a very different economythan we did 20 years ago. Jobs are not themain issue on the agenda althoughBallymun still has a higher than nationalaverage rate of unemployed people," saidJoan Byrne.

"There is no doubt that there are more jobsaround than there were before. But whatabout the quality of these jobs? What aboutjob protection for our sons and daughters?

"Health in our community is still a majorissue – more so now than in the 80’s. Drugsand stress and mental health related illnessesare rising all the time. But the social servicesin our area are completely overworked andunder-resourced. There are children in our

community who are at risk now because thereare not enough resources to help.

"It is true that there has been a significantimprovement in the numbers of young peopleaccessing third level education from ourcommunity – testimony to a communityinitiative . But why do large numbers of youngpeople in Ballymun still leave school withliteracy problems?

"We have new emerging communitieswithin our area – new neighbours who needsupport. The latest directive from on high isthat we should be supporting anti-racismwork and developing anti-racism charters. Yetthere is no funding to do any active anti-racism work in our communities.

"So can we leave all these problems to besorted out by Government or to the ever

growing Service Level Agreement Ethos? If welearn anything from our past and take it intoour future, it is that the people of Ballymunwere the ones who had the ideas, who put inthe responses, who still fight daily for everypenny to keep their organisations afloat, whostill have to deal with imbecilic directivessucking away our energy….

"At some level we have to strip CommunityDevelopment back to the simplicities. Wehave to start talking again about the essenceof what it means. We have to start havingcommunity conversations again. We have tostart meeting again.

"We have to retain the absolute right tomeet on our own and make our own plans.We have to retain the right to self-governanceand self-determination," concluded Joan.

Ballymun then . . . - despite problems, our community had huge energy

. . . and in the future- self-governance and self-determination are crucial

By JOAN BYRNE

e ground

20changing ireland last year, ireland named the 4th happiest country to live in

AN excellent new resource for influencingpolicy direction in this country is beingpromoted by the Combat Poverty Agency. Itoffers those affected by poverty theopportunity to influence the policies.

The Having Your Say Programme is aimed atbridging the gap between the theory andpractice of anti-poverty policy.

"The best policies are made when peoplewho are affected by them state their needs andare heeded," says the CPA’s head, HelenJohnston.

The programme is open to anti-povertygroups and projects, including CDPs, FamilyResources Centres, and Local DevelopmentSocial Inclusion projects. It is also open to third-level colleges involved in communitydevelopment education, community educationand anti-poverty interests, and for governmentdepartments and policymakers.

While the Social Inclusion Measurescommittees attached to local authoritiesthroughout the state offer the most effective wayfor small communities to influence big decisions,the CPA’s Having Your Say programme offers analternative route.

The CPA Programme runs to the end of 2007.Key activities to be completed by the end of thisyear include undertaking research "to map thepolicy learning experiences, needs and supportswithin and across the Community DevelopmentProgramme, the Family Resource Centres’Programme and the Local Development SocialInclusion Progamme."

Other activities to be completed in the comingmonths include:• An annual conference in Croke Park on

October 17th.• Publication of three new resources.• Research to establish baseline information on

policy learning opportunities within third levelcommunity development education.

• A literature review of the role of communitydevelopment in tackling poverty.By the end of the Programme, in 2007, there

should be greater participation in national andlocal policymaking by socially excluded groups.

An introductory brochure, Having Your Say,and full information in Having Your Say,strengthening the voices of excluded people - a3-year programme 2005-2007, are availablefrom the agency. The address is: CPA,Bridgewater Centre, Conyngham Road,Islandbridge, Dublin 8 (located just before thejunction with the South Circular Road atIslandbridge).

Tel. Joan on 01-602-6632. E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]: www.combatpoverty.ie

Have your say on futureanti-poverty policies

Our programme and the ‘Welfare State’- a key influence on the new NDP

SOCIAL inclusion programmes for the nextNational Development Plan will be newlybased around the Developmental WelfareState model, according to Rory O'Donnell ofthe National Economic and Social Council(NESC).

He was speaking at a conference on June8th in Croke Park organised by the 'Wheel', anetwork that seeks to co-ordinate activities inthe community and voluntary sector.

The Developmental Welfare State consists ofthree interlocking elements, according to Rory:Income Support; Services; and Innovation.

Rory said the unique value of the communityorganisation is, "They are responsive toemerging local issues and can respond flexiblyand quickly. Projects piloted by communitygroups can then be mainstreamed by stateagencies."

The 'Developmental Welfare State' issomething CDPs should be well advised to gettheir heads around as it is the basis for the newSocial Partnership agreement and thereforewill greatly influence the future social inclusionprogrammes.

We don't often think of the CommunityDevelopment Programme as part of 'the'Welfare State' and that's because for longperiods of our history a 'Welfare State' similarto most European countries did not exist andindeed faced opposition from influentialsectors including the Catholic Church.

But from about 1974 our Welfare provision

has become more and more enshrined in lawand more akin to mainstream Europen models.But like a lot of other aspects of social policythis has developed in an ad hoc andpieccemeal manner. Also, the social inclusionprogrammes (of which the CommunityProgramme Programme is one) developed at atime in the early 1990s when the economicsituation was very different.

In the 'Developmental Welfare State' modelproposed by Rory, there are citicisms of policymaking and partnership which would strike achord with many CDPs.

"Strategic decisions have been delayed orreversed," he said, while implementation and'joined up government' have generally beenpoor.

However there may well be significantchallenges posed by this new 'DevelopmentalState' model. Under 'disadvantage', this modelproposes "to rely less on targeted programmesand more on the responsiveness of publicly-funded services and 'participation packages".What does this mean?

These are some of the questions CDPs needto pose and engage with. They need tofamilarise themselves with the language andconcepts of the new model. A good start wouldbe to download Rory O'Donnells powerpointpresentation which is called ‘NESC Strategy2006 People, Productivity and Purpose’. It isavailable, half-way down the page, at:www.policyinstitute.tcd.ie/reshapingirishinstitutions20052006.php

CPA director Helen Johnston.

By GERRY McKEEVER

Meeting calledover poorrelations withlocal authorities A CDP and Family Resource Centre (FRC)have called a meeting for July 27th todiscuss common difficulties that communitygroups have in their dealings with localauthorities. The meeting is open to CDPsand FRCs nationwide who have an interestin this issue.

The projects who called the meeting,Mountwood/Fitzgerald Park CDP andBallyogen FRC, are in the area covered byDun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

Recently, Ballyogen FRC voted to ask thelocal authority to recall its representativefrom their management committee.

The board of Mountwood/FitzgeraldPark CDP have also experienced problemsin their relationship with the local authorityand are seeking a way forward.

The meeting will take place on Thursday,July 27th, at the Stillorgan Park Hotel,Dublin, from 9.30am – 12.30pm.

For further details contact Marion White,project co-ordinator, Mountwood /Fitzgerald Park CDP, 71/73 Maple House,Mounttown, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.Tel. 01-2845722.

21changing ireland happy planet index: ireland ranked 113th for environmental culture

Top Ten TipsSARAH-BETH Watkins – TempleshannonCDP project co-ordinator – gives someresource tips below on what CDPs needto do if they wish to highlight an abuseof human rights.

She will report further in the Autumnedition of ‘Changing Ireland’ on how thecommunity development approach andhuman rights approach do not alwayswork easily together. She will explorewhat is possible for communities to doand examine the difficulties to besurmounted in having your human rightsrespected.

Also, in the Autumn edition, JoanCourtney from Tralee will look atIreland’s rising immigrant populationand the human rights issues that effectthem.

- How to address human rightsissues effecting your community1) Raise awareness of the issue. People

won’t know it’s an issue if they don’tknow anything about it.

2) Research your facts. Make sureeverything you use to promote yourissue has been checked and double-checked. Facts hit hard but they willcompletely discredit you if you getthem wrong.

3) Use the UN and its conventions. Checkthat Ireland has signed to the relevanttreaty (eg The Covention on theElimination against All Forms ofDiscrimination against Women). Thenread up on the convention’s generalrecommendations and concludingcomments.

4) Check the State reports to find out howthe Irish governments meets theseobligations and then read any shadowreports available on your issue to seewhere these obligations fail.

5) Use all this information! Formulate acampaign. Think strategy and planahead. Remember this takes hugecommitment and time.

6) Use the media to get the word out. Usenewspapers, magazines, radio, eventelevision if you can. Don’t ignore thefree press sheets or local newsletterswho are often happy to takecontributions.

7) Demonstrate. You don’t have to chainyourself to the railings but it’s apossibility! Think creatively about howyou can let people know of your issueand what can be done about it.

8) Form a coalition. There is strength innumbers. Link with like-minded peopleto form a group to specificallychallenge the issue and raiseawareness.

9) Write your own shadow report. Thiscan be done as an organisation or asa coalition. Respond to the Irishgovernment using a formal documentthat will be read by others.

10) General Election 2007. It’s a good timeto start talking to the politicians.

PPrroojjeeccttss ppllaannnniinnggffoorr OOccttoobbeerr 1177tthh- UN Day for Eradication of Poverty STUART Williams of ATD FourthWorld has confirmed that CDP'sin Wexford, Cork, andBlanchardstown will be involvedin marking the UN InternationalDay for the Eradication ofPoverty on October 17th.

"We want to build up momentum aroundthe country for this day of solidarity andparticularly hope that people in groups andcommunities through out the country can takeownership of it," he said.

Central to the day are the voices ofcourage of people and communities who arestruggling throughout the year to establish abetter world for themselves and for others.

"On the 17th October UN Day, we feel weare together, settled people, homeless people,Travellers, workers in different organisations,politicians, ordinary people from different

backgrounds and people fromother countries, all standingtogether against poverty," addedStuart.

He encouraged comm-unitygroups to mark the UN Day inwhatever way they can and to get

in touch if they want more information. ATD Fourth World works in partnership

with governments and NGOs to create theconditions necessary for people in extremepoverty to become active partners in thedevelopment of society.

The address is: ATD Fourth World, _27Mountjoy Sq, _Dublin 1. Tel. 01-8558191. E-mail: [email protected] Websites worth checking are:www.un.org/esa/socdev/poverty/poverty_link3.htm www.oct17.org www.atd-fourthworld.org www.combatpoverty.ie

Start your own UNFact Finding MissionSO your CDP or community grouphas a human rights issue that needsaddressing. You’ve formed a groupto campaign and raise awareness.Your march is planned and you’vestuck posters around the town. Youknow your issue inside and out butdread crossfire questioning andbeing left speechless.

Find your facts. Talk rights and obligations.Use documentary evidence that is linked to theUN. Do your research and you’ll have theanswers.

There are nine human rights treaties thatmake up the United Nations Human RightsTreaty System. They are:• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.• The International Convention on the

Elimination of All Forms of RacialDiscrimination.

• The International Bill of Human Rights.• The International Covenant on Civil and

Political Rights.• The International Covenant on Economic,

Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).• The Convention on the Elimination of All

Forms of Discrimination against Women(CEDAW).

• The Convention against Torture and otherCruel, Inhuman or DegradingTreatment orPunishment.

• The Convention of the Rights of the Child.• The International Convention on the

Protection of the Rights of AllMigrant Workers and Members oftheir Families.

States who sign these treaties arebound by them. The UN have treatybodies to monitor theirimplementation. The main role ofthese bodies is to consider StateReports and make

recommendations.Read the Irish state’s report that covers the

issue you are addressing. Look at both where itis fulfilling its role and where it doesn’t.

Read Shadow Reports prepared by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that givean alternative view to the Irish state’saccomplishments and failures.

Both of these reports will give you facts andfigures. They will also point to the relevantarticles in the conventions that you need to beaware of. For example, article 12 of CEDAWrequires steps to eliminate discrimination fromthe field of health care, including access toservices such as family planning. Article 12 ofthe ICESCR recognises the right of everyone tothe enjoyment of the highest attainablestandard of physical and mental health.

After the treaty body has read the Statereports, it issues general recommendationsand/ or concluding comments. These are alsoa tool for you to use when fighting for yourissue. If the UN has recommended change,then you definitely have a point to make!

Resource page

St. Margaret’sshow importanceof open days

22changing ireland hurrah! ireland’s unemployment rate remains lowest in europe

THERE’S no point involunteers putting inall those hours andstaff working year-inand year-out ifnobody knows whata project is up to. AndSt. Margaret’sTraveller CommunityAssociation in Dublinappreciate that.

Open days haveprobably beenaround since Cuchalainn, yet they remain aneffective way to promoting a project’sactivities and, on June 28th, St. Maargaret’sCDP held theirs.

Among the highlights was the presentationof an illustrated children’s book produced bythe project’s women’s group to teachers fromthe local pre-school. The group are veryactive and recently completed FETAC-levelcourses in maths, food and nutrition, caringfor children and child development and playand other subjects.

Certificates were on display to show thewomen’s group had completed first aidcourses, a home-made quilt marked theircompletion of health courses and a mosaicthey made depicting different aspects ofTravellers lives greeted visitors at the entranceto the community centre. During the year, thewomen also took part in an active citizenshipcourse.

The aim of the Open Day – commonamong CDPs and other communityorganisations – was to promote the positiveactions which take place on a daily basis inthe community centre and to show the rangeof work the project is doing.

The Men’s Group ran a similar displayillustrating all the activities and courses thatthey are involved in: computers, theatre visits,truck driving lessons, driver theory test, safepass course, deep sea fishing, snooker, darts,pitch and putt, hill walking, paintball, claypigeon shooting and quad biking.

The work of the Primary Healthcare Team(PHC) since their graduation (attended by

President Mc Aleesein June 2005)includes encouragingand facilitatingmothers to attend thelocal Health Centre inBallymun for primaryimmunisations andboosters.

Visitors – fromother local communitygroups, nationalagencies and

government departments - were invited tolisten to ‘Voices: Traveller Women’. Theinterviews were recorded by artist MichaelMcLoughlin and focus on Traveller culture andthe work of the PHC team.

The team also provide information andsupport to Traveller women in Ballymun inaccessing sexual health services. Aphotography project that highlightedenvironmental health issues was displayed.Photographer Derek Speirs was involved.

Exchange House Traveller Youth Servicealso had a display on their work. They are themain provider of Youth Services to theTravelling community in the greater Dublinarea. In co-operation with the CDP theydeliver a holistic programme of work withyoung people on the site from ages 10-25years. Traveller Youth Service has improvedthe personal and community developmentskills of many young Travellers.

And, participants in the senior and juniorhomework club showed off their work.

A report published by the CDP entitled‘Traveller Accommodation in St. Margaret’sPark, Ballymun’ was distributed to those whoattended the open day. It is available toanyone interested and comes with a DVD.For more information, contact Damien Smyth, Project Co-ordinator, St.Margaret's Travellers CommunityAssociation, St. Margaret's Road, St. Margaret's Park,Ballymun, Dublin 1. Tel. 01-8622144. Fax:01-8623639. Email:[email protected]

Travellerwomen’sworkTRAVELLER Women’s NetworkTempleshannon CDP is currently host to anew county-wide network of Travellerwomen working towards awareness andchange in Co. Wexford. The network willprovide support and information to theTravelling communities of Co. Wexford.

The TWN is managed by a steeringgroup of six women; Margaret Kelly –Enniscorthy, Helen Berry – New Ross,Mary Connors – Waterford, MaryConnors – Wexford and Mary Connors –Bunclody.

Wexford has the second highestTraveller population in the country. Thewomen aim to develop their own centreas a resource and focal point for thecounties communities. At present, thewomen are formulating their long-termworkplan and strategy for involvementat a regional level.

They can be contacted atTempleshannon CDP on 054-37511.

Wexfordwomen’sfestivalTHIS July, women are celebrating on thequays of Wexford! A collaboration ofwomen from various groups and theWexford Equality for Women Measurehave joined forces to host a fun-filledtwo days with guest speakers,musicians, artists and much much more.

On day one, July 21st, a conference isscheduled for the Riverbank Hotel withfour workshops covering Women'sHealth, Domestic Violence, MinorityGroups and Women in Leadership.Confirmed speakers included NoreenClancy from CEDAW, Niall Crowley fromThe Equality Authority, Yvonne Pimm -Rape Crisis Centre, Betty Doyle –Wexford Women's Refuge. The MarieKeating Bus will also be in attendance.

Day two is a family event on thequays in Wexford from 12noon to 4pmand will consist of childrensentertainment as well as arts and craftsdemonstrations, dance and music.

Both events are free. For moreinformation, contact the WexfordEquality for Women Measure on 053-26477.

Principles at workST. Margaret’s CDP is a coming together of Travellers and settled people and aims topromote the recognition of Travellers as a nomadic ethnic group with its own distinctiveculture.

It aims to promote Traveller self-determination to work for real change in improvingTraveller’s health, accommodation and education. Therefore equality, participation,consultation and community development principles are central to the work of theorganisation.

The open day reflected these aspects of the organisation in a very positive way:

23changing ireland jobs aplenty, says ballymun speaker, but what about the quality?

IN a report titled ‘Growing Up In Erris 2006’by Iorras Le Chéile CDP in Belmullet, Co.Mayo, 160 young people were asked 77questions on what it is like growing up inErris in the early 21st century.

Young people said the main issues facingthem are drugs, alcohol, crime, familyproblems/family breakdown and suicide.Young people felt that they had no say indecisions being made in their localcommunities.

The most popular club to which youngpeople were affiliated was the GAA. Soccerclubs and a church choir/group also featuredhighly.

When asked what was the most importantthing in their lives, family, a social life, friendsand good health were rated very highly.

The report recommendations include:- The establishment of an Erris Youth

Interagency Network to include youthrepresentatives and representatives fromvoluntary organizations

- The setting up of an Erris YouthInformation Centre. Currently, young peoplewho need information on sensitive issues

have great difficulty in accessing thisinformation in a place where they can feelsafe. They need to know their queries will betreated in strict confidence.

- Identifying a building that for use as adesignated Youth Café or meeting place.Young people need a place to meet.

- The extension of The Rural TransportInitiative to meet the transport needs of youngpeople living in an area the size of Erris. Lackof transport excludes many young peoplefrom participating in activities and attendingevents.

Local athlete Nicole Geraghty launched"Growing Up In Erris 2006", a study of thechallenges and opportunities facing youngpeople in Erris. It was compiled by Iorras LeCheile with funding from The Irish YouthFoundation and Údarás na Gaeltachta. Theco-operation and participation of localagencies and organisations added greatly tothe report. The author was Mary Geever. Táleagan Gaeilge den Tuairisc ar fáil.

For more information contact Rose Walshon 097-20828

What is it likegrowing up inErris in 2006?

Members of the Voluntary Management Committee of Iorras Le Chéile CDP at the launch of theirreport‘Growing Up In Erris 2006’.

Kerry estatevies for awardTHE Shanakill and Rahoonane estates in oneof Tralee’s RAPID areas has been nominatedby Kerry County Council for the prestigiousPride of Place 32-County Ireland CommunityAward. Tralee CDP supports this group as partof it’s RAPID work.

The CDP and the Shanakill and RahoonaneEstate Management & Community Safetygroup (EMCS) put out fliers to all residentsabout a final clean up the day before thejudges visited.

In an innovative move, young people whocame out to do a litter pick up and someweeding were promised two hours of internetaccess in return for their help.

Residents on the EMCS are busy workedwith the CDP’s Outreach Worker, JuneMoynihan, on a 30 minute presentation forthe judges who walked the area with theresidents to see the community as it stood. Thejudges talked to local people about their roleas active community volunteers. They wantedthe residents to show them what they areproud of.

The Shanakill and Rahoonane group areoptimistic about this award as they candemonstrate excellent communityparticipation: in their estate managementgroup, at public meetings (held in the interestof openness and accountability to update thewider community on what decisions thecommittee has made on their behalf) and intheir involvement in the RAPID ReviewCommunity Newsletter coordinated by TraleeCDP.

Recently the CDP brought together twoyouth groups in the area to encourage youngpeople to participate at committee level. At thelast estate management meeting, youthrepresentatives made a presentation about theneeds and concerns of young people in thearea. This forms the basis of a joint communitydevelopment workplan for both adults andyouth in these estates.

Study visit at Tralee CDPTRALEE CDP recently hosted a group of 25people from Knockanrawley CDP (Tipperary)and St. Mary’s CDP (Limerick) as well asresidents from Shanakill and Rahoonane(Tralee) and members of the CDP’sManagement Committee.

Some of the contacts were made followingpublication in ‘Changing Ireland’ of an articleby Sharon Browne, Tralee CDP co-ordinator,which demonstrated the use of communitydevelopment principles in estage managementwork.

During the visit, Sharon made apresentation on the work and development ofTralee CDP. The focus was on the CDPs RAPIDwork, Voter Education and Social InclusionMeasures. Ann O’Dwyer, the Tralee RAPIDCoordinator, made a presentation about ourlearning from RAPID. Residents gave a tour oftheir estates, the family resource centre,organic garden and playground.

It turns out that there are very differentapproaches to community participation inother RAPID areas. The visitors said theprocess in Tralee is very open andaccountable. The outcome was that thegathering agreed to organise a regionalseminar next year with CDPs and RAPIDCoordinators. Also, the visitors invitedTralee CDP to their projects on a return trip.

Mayoislands getpiers worth€12mA NEW 110 metre pier for Clare Island and a 25 metre extension to the existing pierat Inishturk Island, both off Co. Mayo, were officially opened on Friday 30th June,by the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív.

At a combined total cost of over €12 million, these piers represents the largest everinvestment in islands infrastructure. Both CDPs on Clare Island and Inishturk wereinvolved in the development.

A further mark of progress for Ireland’s offshore islands is that there are now 17state-assisted island ferry and air services compared to just five in 1997. Thephotograph shows Minister Ó Cuív travelling by more traditional means duringsummer-time last year.

I'D heard that there was a bit of aproblem with anti-social behaviour inthe area I was moving into, but seeingas I keep to myself, I thought that if Ikept my head down then I'd be leftalone.

Here's how it went:- First day, as I moved in, a stoned

adolescent fired rocks and called me"a black refugee bastard". Found outlater he was on heroin, must haveeffected his eyesight (I'm about asblack as Bertie Ahern).

- Later, a Traveller child called me a"dirty buffer" just because I didn'tknow any of the local Traveller

families.- I get regular verbal abuse from kids

at the corner. I think it is because Istand out for not wearing a tracksuitor having a local accent.

- Because my house is end-terrace, mygarden was used as landfill.

- The empty house at the back waspetrol-bombed and is now derelict.

- Someone stole the oil from mycentral heating tank.

- Someone stole tiles from my garageroof.

- One night, I found 5 teenagers tryingto prise open the garage-door. Theygot tired, rang the doorbell and

asked for the contents. No!- Gardai stopped me cycling home

with my girlfriend. They said,"Because ye are well dressed andhave lights on your bikes, we thoughtye were lost tourists."

- This week, a 12-year old stole mywallet on my way to work.One of my neighbours finally

advised, "If you're not from here, youhave to make friends quickly with goodneighbours and let people see thatyou're part of the neighbourhood.Otherwise, you become a target."

I guess the ostrich approach wasn'tthe smartest idea.

INTRODUCTION: The author of this Diary is known to the editorbut wishes to remain anonymous. For readers who missed ourSpring edition of ‘Changing Ireland’, it featured a 10-pagespecial report on Community Development responses to anti-social behaviour in Ireland. A limited number of copies of themagazine are still available (at no charge) – see page 2 fordetails on contacting us. To see what residents of somecommunities are struggling with on a daily basis, read on:

A diary of anti-social behaviour- From an urban estate in Ireland . . .. . . a resident writes