Inclusion

Published on behalf of the Irish Local Development Network (ILDN) the new magazine focuses on LEADER projects and work by the 49 not-for-profit Local Development Companies in the State.

Tusla, the child and family agency, is calling on families from new communities to strongly consider fostering.

Minister Heather Humphreys, speaking in the Dáil on May 25th, gave an update on the development of a new islands policy. While work on the policy was delayed by the pandemic, it is one of the key elements in ‘Our Rural Future’, the Government’s new rural development policy.

Our Rural Future - supported by 150 commitments across Government - reflects the unprecedented change in living and working patterns during Covid-19 and the significant opportunities this presents for rural communities – from remote working and revitalising our town centres to job creation, developing a green economy and enhancing our outdoor amenities.

In Wexford - as  featured in our long read here -  community workers under SICAP made people welcome during a pandemic. The same good community work is happening across the country, from Inchicore to West Mayo. It is but one of many #SicapStories. It would make for an ideal television series, as amateur film-makers are proving.

Pat Kennedy urges Government not to allow its plans for the use of pubs as community spaces to get stalled by bureaucracy.

Free Irish language and sean-nós dance classes are being offered to new Irish communities in Meath, Louth and Cavan this month through a collaboration by Cultúr Migrants Centre and Conradh na Gaeilge. The online classes are some of the many events taking place across the country - mostly online - during this year’s Seachtain na Gaeilge. “Initiatives such as these, while they may seem tokenistic, actually play a very important role in helping migrants and refugees to assimilate and integrate into Irish society and culture,” says Sorcha Grisewood who interviewed those involved in the collaboration:

Mother and son, Eileen and Ray Lucey from Mucklagh, Tullamore, Co. Offaly, feature on the front cover of the latest edition of ‘Changing Ireland’, highlighting the role of carers and those receiving care across Ireland.