Social Justice Matters

Davide Fadda is an Italian history and philosophy teacher, writer, and creator of Saggidautore, an educational project dedicated to making history, philosophy, and social issues accessible to a wider audience. He is the author of three books, including Apology of a Loser: Challenging the Myth of Self-Made Success (Iff Books, 2026). His latest work challenges the belief that success is simply the r...

Our 2025 Annual Social Policy Conference was on the theme 'Care in a Changing World', bringing together voices from across the care landscape — carers, advocates, policymakers and organisations — to explore how care, rights and inclusion must evolve in a changing world. Jacek Barszczewski joined the OECD as a Health Policy Researcher in 2023, with a primary focus on social protection for long-term...

Social Justice Ireland believes that, over the period ahead, policy should focus on increasing Ireland’s tax-take. Previous benchmarks, set relative to the overall proportion of national income collected in taxation, have become redundant following recent revisions to Ireland’s GDP and GNP levels as a result of the tax-minimising operations of a small number of large multinational firms. Consequen...

Rosi Leonard is the Data Centre Campaign Lead & Network Development Coordinator with Friends of the Earth Ireland . Her work is rooted in the aim to build power at local level and to deepen solidarity between different groups who are fighting climate change and its effects on lives and livelihoods.  She explains the why and what of The Private Wires Bill, the impacts of data centres on electri...

A budget directed towards the Common Good must do four things in 2027. It must promote fairness and a more equitable distribution of the economic resources at Government’s disposal. It must protect the most vulnerable and enhance resilience in the face of cost of living pressures, poverty and deprivation. It must address the deficits in our social infrastructure and services, not least of all hous...

Aoife Kelly-Desmond is Chief Executive Officer at Community Law & Mediation .  Aoife is a member of the Law Society of Ireland, a graduate of University College Cork and has completed post-graduate programmes in law and business disciplines with Queen Mary, University of London, the Leicester Castle Business School, DeMontfort University of Leicester, and the United Nations Institute for Train...

In Ireland, the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People and the commitment to youth participation through structures such as Comhairle na nÓg and the EU Youth Dialogue provide a strong foundation for the inclusion of young people in policymaking. However, emerging challenges—including the cost of living, housing pressures, digital literacy and safety, and the need for a just green...

Liam O'Sullivan works as the CEO of Care Alliance Ireland . He holds professional qualifications in Social Work, Youth and Community Work and Social Research. His work with Care Alliance since 2004 has included bringing National Carers Week to Ireland, developing collaborative and impactful relationships with third level institutions in Family Carer research, progressing the development of a Carer...

The Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2026-2030 was launched at the 2026 Social Inclusion Forum in May. This eagerly awaited renewal of government commitment's to tackle poverty and exclusion is a key document for the Community and Voluntary sector. In this episode, we will hear briefly from each of these organisations about what the Roadmap means for them and their communities. Care Alliance Ireland  ...

Between July and December 2026, Ireland will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union . This quick explainer sets out what it is, why it matters, and what Ireland hopes to achieve during its six months at the helm of European decision making. 

Tom McDonnell is co-director of the Nevin Economic Research Institute and is based in the Dublin office. In addition to managing staff in the Dublin office he has co-responsibility for the NERI's research programme and for its strategic direction. He is also responsible for, among other things, the NERI's analysis of the Republic of Ireland economy including risks, trends and forecasts. He special...

We launched our socio-economic review for 2026 on Monday, 27th April 2026. This socio-economic review for 2026 presents ideas and proposals which would enable Ireland to respond to current challenges whilst managing change successfully, with the ambition to achieve a fairer, more just society.  At a time of global turmoil and conflict, Ireland faces the challenge of mitigating the impact of an ene...

Lisa Oelschlegel is the Coordinator of the Alternatives to Violence Project in Ireland, where she supports volunteers delivering workshops in Irish prisons on conflict transformation and nonviolent approaches. She has a background in peace and conflict studies and psychology, and brings over ten years of experience working across international development cooperation, local NGOs, and the academic...

Jeremy Moss is Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of New South Wales. He is the recipient of the Eureka Prize for Ethics and the Australasia Association of Philosophy Media Prize. He is the author or several books on climate change including: Carbon Justice: the Scandal of Australia’s Biggest Contribution to Climate Change ; Climate Justice Beyond the State (with Lachlan Umbers),...

Gillian Phelan is Head of Division, Digital Euro Unit at the Central Bank of Ireland. She chats with Susanne Rogers, explaining what the digital euro is and what it will mean for consumers in Ireland. 

Prof. Charles M.A. Clark, St. John’s University, New York presents his section on GDP, Wellbeing and Progress from our Annual  Sustainable Progress Index 2026

Stephen Morrison, Policy Lead with Housing Rights  and Gareth Redmond, Research and Policy Officer with Threshold chat with Susanne Rogers about their joint all-island study of the private rental sector  Renting on the Island of Ireland: An All-Island Survey of Private Rented Sector Tenants

Our 2024 Annual Social Policy Conference was on the theme of ' Managing Change to Build a Just Society'. Ireland is going through several major transitions, each of which is only going to deepen with time. While much is changing, many of the problems facing our society are long-standing: inequality, poverty, and under-investment in our social infrastructure remain major challenges. Although the ec...

Ber Grogan, Executive Director of the Simon Communities of Ireland and Carol Baumann, CEO of Galway Simon Community talk through their recent report :  Older Adult Homelessness in Ireland Information on Simon Communities across Ireland can be found HERE . 

Our 2025 Annual Social Policy Conference was on the theme 'Care in a Changing World', bringing together voices from across the care landscape — carers, advocates, policymakers and organisations — to explore how care, rights and inclusion must evolve in a changing world. Marianna Baggio is a research officer in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound ,working on aspects of the European Quality of Lif...

Dr. Naomi Feely is Policy Director with the  Children's Rights Alliance. She chats with Susanne Rogers about two recent documents related to measures tackling Child Poverty in Ireland.  Breaking the Cycle: New Measures in Budget 2026 to Address Child Poverty and Promote Well-being Anois an tAm: Breaking Silos, Building Futures: Cross-Sector Action on Child Poverty  

In Poverty Focus we examine the nature and experiences of poverty in Ireland. Drawing on the available statistical evidence, we outline how poverty is measured, the value of the poverty line and consider many of the groups in our society who are most exposed to living life below the poverty line. This year we pay particular attention to impact of cost of living pressures.  This episode is a chance...

Our 2024 Annual Social Policy Conference was on the theme of ' Managing Change to Build a Just Society'. Ireland is going through several major transitions, each of which is only going to deepen with time. While much is changing, many of the problems facing our society are long-standing: inequality, poverty, and under-investment in our social infrastructure remain major challenges. Although the ec...

The 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or Conference of the Parties (COP) of the UNFCCC is the upcoming 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, to be held in Belém, Brazil, from 10 to 21 November 2025. Our research and policy analyst Michelle Murphy briefly sets out what COP 30 is all about and what outcome is hoped for.  UN Climate Change Conference - Belém, November 2025 Deliv...

Steven O’Connell is the founder of Football Cooperative, an award winning social enterprise that places recreational football as a hook to bring men together to get active delivering positive health outcomes. Through a place based model, Football Cooperative incorporates a network of recreational football sites and volunteer Game Coordinators that lead out weekly games year round. Games provide an...