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On Monday 20th November ATD Ireland delivered a session of our ‘poverty aware practice’ module to social work master’s students at Galway university led by community activists Lorraine, Jimmy, Christina and Paul.   This purpose of this module is to enable social work students to have a better understanding of poverty and promote a dialogue between those who have experience of social work intervention and the future social workers. Lorraine began by asking the students ‘what does poverty and socio- economic discrimination mean to you?’  The class brought up familiar ideas like facing stigma and having to make difficult choices.  One student discussed…

On 25th October 2023, ATD Ireland community activist Christina presented at Social Platform’s annual conference; ‘Over the poverty line: The case for adequate minimum income for all’.  For several weeks we prepared in the ATD Ireland office through discussions on the topic of minimum income with ATD Ireland community activists and Sister Bernadette who founded the MESL work.  Christina used these insights and her own to write her insightful presentation.  The conference was in aid of the Social Platform ‘Over the Line’ campaign.  Social Platform are calling for an EU Directive on Minimum Income.  There has been some EU developments on…

On Tuesday the 17th Of October ATD Ireland and the 17th October Committee had our annual commemoration for the UN Day for the Eradication of Poverty at the Human Rights and Poverty Stone on the Custom House Quay in Dublin. The theme this year was “Let Dignity Be Our Compass: Working Together Towards Change”. The commemoration included testimony and speeches from many people, including those wigh lived experiences of poverty, exclusion and justice. Also speaking were The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Daithí de Róiste, the Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection, Joe O’Brien and others. Not only did the event include words from many people but…

On 11th October 2023, ATD Ireland including community activists Paul, Andrew, Christina and Jimmy attended the Family Resource Centre National Forum in Tullamore.   ATD Ireland often work with family resource centres from across the country in our various projects, such as our recent LNOB series 3 project which focused positive local community action.  Family resource centres also often carry out projects to mark the 17th October UN Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The theme of the forum this year was ‘Community Development in the context of the FRC National Programme- What does it look like?’The conference began with an opening…

From the 13th to the 17th October ATD Ireland held an exhibition in EPIC the CHQ Building showcasing the outputs of some of our recent projects.  This included the report and inspiring artwork from LNOB series 3, Poverty Talks report and animation in collaboration with Dr Joe Whelan, Lockdown Liberties and the #Addthe10th campaign.  We also promoted the 17th October UN Day for the Eradication of Poverty, its significance and the history of the day in Ireland.  Further, we showcased some important reports and work from some of our friends and partnership organisations including;  EAPN Ireland, Coalition 2030, SVP's work on…

On Friday the 6th of October the #PovertyTalks research project was launched by Dr. Joe Whelan from the School of Social work and Social policy in Trinity College Dublin in partnership with ATD Ireland. This research project included a research report, an animation, and a project website. The Launch took place at the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Event Space. This was an engaging event which included an introduction from Father Peter McVerry, a discussion of the findings and research, a showing of the animation, testimony from a panel of ATD community activists who took part in the research –Andrew,…

Ciara Margolis was a member of ATD Fourth World in Ireland, having been involved with ATD Fourth World there for 4 and a years in a variety of roles, ranging from project coordinating to communications work to family support.She has since moved across the pond to work with ATD Fourth World UK in the Together in Dignity family support program in London, where the team feels incredibly lucky to be working alongside as warm and empathetic a soul as Ciara. "Every Day is Different" In this video Ciara discusses her work with the small team in Ireland, and the different roles…

In 2022, ATD Ireland began working on Leave No One Behind Series 3. LNOB series 3 is a workshop series designed to start an inclusive conversation about the 2030 Agenda’s Leave No One Behind Promise. It aims to raise awareness of the Leave No One Behind Promise of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to involve citizens from all walks of life (children, youths, adults- including people withexperience of poverty and marginalisation). We want to empower marginalised groups to actively contribute to dialogue in Ireland around the Sustainable Development Goals by valuing their knowledge of social exclusion issues based…

On Wednesday 26th July, to conclude our Leave No One Behind series 3 project we hosted the LNOB festival of change and art exhibition in Mud Island Community Garden.  It was a timely moment to discuss the Sustainable Development Goals and the Leave No One Behind promise with local communities as Irish delegates just attended the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York.  (Watch the proceedings here). The Leave No One Behind Series 3 project was about recognizing positive actions in local communities which put the SDG’s into practice and support those who are struggling.   Through mediums such…

We recently said goodbye to ATD team member Rebecca who left in May to discover new opportunities.  See below for some of her refelctions being part of the ATD team for almost a year.I joined ATD Ireland looking for practical experience and received way more than this. I was involved in a variety of projects that drew out creativity and thinking outside the box. We questioned real social issues and expanded my own mindset as we worked with amazing people with first hand experience. The raw, honest experience shared with me made me realise how necessary it is to have the voices…