News

On 20th February members of the team along with community activist Lorraine travelled to Vienna, Austria to meet with other ATD Europe groups and prepare for a meeting with the EU Fundamental Rights Organisation held on the 23rd February about institutional maltreatment and socio- economic discrimination. The Fundamental rights Agency work to promote and protect rights within the EU.  They do this through actions such as collecting and analysing law and data and providing independent, evidence- based advice on rights.  After arriving to our hostel in Vienna Monday night we began preparing together on Tuesday morning.  This preparation began last September…

On 8th March some of the team travelled to Granard, Co.  Longford as part of our Leave No One Behind series 3 project. We met with a group of participants, volunteers and staff from Lus Na Greine Family resource centre.  Working with a small group of 5 we had a friendly introduction, where we told the group little about ATD Ireland and the purpose of the Leave No One Behind project.  This group had worked with ATD before so it was nice to reconnect with some of the staff.  The main purpose however was to find out a little more about them,…

Our Leave No One Behind Series 3 workshops, funded by Concern have begun. SDG 3 – Health and Wellbeing is at the core of this series, as SDG 3 and SDG 1 No Poverty emerged as two of the goals most significant to the participants of Leave No One Behind Series 2 as expressed in the report which ATD published in 2022. In particular, we uncovered the connection between these two goals. In light of this, Leave No One Behind Series 3 was therefore designed to focus on highlighting positive actions taking place around the country which aim to improve the…

For the past year ATD Ireland as part of our Leave No One Behind: Series 3 programme (funded by Concern), have been hosting a Choose-Day Tuesday event each week. The ATD staff have been delighted to see some new faces, and to welcome back familiar ones each week to share our space and to learn from each other from our variety of skills/interests. The idea behind this was to give participants the autonomy to choose what different activity, workshop or outing they would like to organize and take part in, every Tuesday. “You’ll see that a lot of people and families…

On Wednesday 22nd of February, ATD Ireland was kindly invited by Sinn Féin’s TD Chris Andrews and Independent TD Violet-Anne Wynne to attend the debate about the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021 — Second Stage in Private Members’ Business. This debate will tackle what the #Addthe10th alliance have been striving for. It is necessary for people with lived experiences of poverty to have protection in the Irish Equality legalisation. Prior to the debate, we were given a tour around Leinster House and learned about the efforts to include more women in the interior design, particularly the art work which was previously…

Walking, Thinking and Talking: An exploration of the lived experiences and hidden geographies of poverty as a participatory arts methodology On Friday October 6th Dr Joe Whelan from the Department of Social Work and Social Policy in Trinity College Dublin launched new research, website and animation 'Walking, Thinking and Talking: An exploration of the lived experiences and hidden geographies of poverty as a participatory arts methodology'.  The launch was held at the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, with panel of Joe Whelan and ATD community activists Andrew, Paul, Jimmy and Christina who were among the participants in the research.  The launch…

Breaking the 'cycle' of poverty! ATD Ireland are organising a sponsored cycle from the Famine Museum in Strokestown, Co. Roscommon to the Famine Statues and Poverty Stone Customs House Quay Dublin. The cycle will take place from June 24th to 25th. It will cover 180 km and will take place over two days with one night camping right beside the beautiful Lough Ennell. This event is for competent cyclists only. 80km on Sat 24th and c.100km on the Sunday. Average cycling speed will be 20km+ approx. The route is a mixture of country roads, the Royal Canal Cycleway and some urban…

As we approach the end of 2022, we would like to pay reference to some of the highlights and main projects of the past year.  It was a time to rebuild after things began to open up again post Covid- 19 and was ultimately a much brighter time.  However, it is important to acknowledge this was still a difficult time for many families and individuals living in poverty.  We will continue to work towards our goals next year in supporting families and creating a more equal and just world for all.  See here to read ATD Ireland's strategic goals for 2022-…

On Thursday November 24th ATD Ireland were invited to the Dublin City PPN (Public Participation Network) plenary at the Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun.The event was attended by various members of Dublin city PPN and it was an opportunity to get to learn about some of the work done by the different community and voluntary organisations around Dublin city. Roger Warburton, from the Rediscovery Centre, welcomed the PPN, and told us about their work, their plans for the future, and about the circular economy.  Mick Keegan spoke about being on the Secretariat, and the Disability Thematic Group.  Gary Kearney, Traffic and Transport…

My time at ATD Ireland was short but impactful. I was curious about working with an NGO, something I didn’t have experience in. I thought that it would inform me what I wanted to do next. I have always cared about human rights issues, and I thought that this would be a great opportunity to engage with them.It started with an interview that turned into a two-hour chat with board members, ATD employees, and community activists. It was such a lovely environment full of warm, thoughtful people. I didn’t want to leave.Once the internship started, I was writing articles based on…