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, Paul, Jimmy and Christina—and a question-and-answer session at the end.
· In his contribution, Father Peter McVerry discussed many interesting points helping to engage the audience. He spoke about how easy it is for people to be ignorant about the struggle of poverty when they don’t experience it as it doesn’t affect them directly. This point emphasized the overall importance of the research as the research documents the voices of persons experiencing poverty and the challenges associated with experiences of poverty.
After Father Peter McVerry launched the event, Dr. Joe Whelan discussed the findings and research before the premier of the animation and website. In the animation you hear the voices of the research participants, see maps drawn by the research participants and photos taken by the participants. The professional work done for the animation was done by the animator John Clerkin. The animation was very powerful and effective in allowing people to develop an in-depth understanding of the lived experiences of poverty in Ireland.
After the premier of the website and animation, research participants and ATD community activists- Andrew, Paul, Jimmy, and Christina contributed to the event through discussing their thoughts about the research, poverty, and their experiences of poverty. They all spoke with passion. Many of them spoke about how they felt about how the research was conducted for example Paul said, “There is a real conversation based on mutual learning, our expertise and knowledge are at last getting recognition.” It is clear from Paul’s statement and many others that the research process was about mutual learning.
· One of the many things that Andrew discussed is how he hopes to see a positive change in the future for example “we can make Ireland something to be proud of again we can make a better future for the next generation”. This helped to get across a sense of hope for the future and inspires people to help change Ireland. Jimmy read his own poetry which also helped to inspire this sense of fighting for a better future, for example “So let’s fight for justice, So let’s fight for life in the homeless services”. Christina spoke about how socio-economic discrimination has affected her and her husband Jimmy’s life. She spoke about how they struggled to find somewhere to live, which helped the audience gain a better understanding of some of the struggles involved with poverty.
After the valuable contribution from the research participants there was a Q & A with the researcher and research participants. This gave the audience an opportunity to ask any questions and open a discussion.
Overall, the research launch was a very powerful event that helped people to understand the purpose of the research and to discuss the research with others. Find the website and full report here. See the full animation below.
Thank you very much to Joe and his research team, we are very proud to have been involved in this project. Thank you to all the ATD Ireland community activists who took part in the research and who spoke during the launch.
