Social Justice Matters

Carrie Ann Moran is Consultant and Founder of Circular Fashion Ireland and Director at Fashion Revolution Europe. She is an award-winning Irish social entrepreneur, recognised nationally as a leading voice on circular fashion. For over 15 years, Carrie Ann has pushed sustainable fashion in Ireland, gaining recognition for her industry perspective and her pragmatic approach to embedding sustainabil...

David Lohan is an engineer from Galway, living in Cork. He has a research interest in human trafficking and modern slavery. His latest work is a book entitled At Freedom's Crossroads: Making Sense of Modern Slavery. The book is available in print and eBook formats. More Here .  GRETA – the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings Global Slavery Index 2023 Trafficking in Perso...

We launched our socio-economic review for 2024 on Thursday, 2nd May 2024. This annual publication is where we present a detailed analysis of a range of key matters which are central to social justice; a vision of Ireland’s future as a just and sustainable society; and a policy framework to move consistently and coherently towards that society.  In this episode, you can listen back to the presentat...

Fionnaigh Connaughton-O'Connor has worked for over 20 years as an adult literacy tutor, tutor trainer and most recently voter education.  She works for Dublin Adult Learning Centre ( DALC).  DALC provide targeted adult education services to ensure that everyone in the inner city has the opportunity to avail of their right to develop their literacy and numeracy skills. DALC’s core values are studen...

The All Together in Dignity (ATD) Ireland team are Paul Uzell, Tara Doherty and National co-ordinator, Dann Kenningham. Paul and Dann chat about the origins, aims and core work of the organisation and the #Add the 10th campaign to see socio- economic status recognised as the tenth ground of discrimination in Irish equality legislation.     ATD Ireland   Add the 10th Campaign Breaking Barriers Repo...

A chance to listen back to Social Justice Ireland's paper, 'Delivering Social Rights for Ireland' presented by Economic and Social Analyst, Colette Bennett at our 2021 Annual Social Policy Conference.    All videos, papers and presentations are for the 2021 Annual Social Policy conference are available for download  HERE .

Khalil Moran is pursuing a PhD in Democratic Economic Solutions to Inequality, with a specific focus on Community Wealth Building, an approach coined in Cleveland in the US and Preston in the UK. They have a particular interest in the interplay between our intra and interpersonal skills, theories of learning and how they impact our communication, and the systems and institutions we shape and are s...

Prof Brian Caulfield is Head of Discipline in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering. His research addresses global issues such as the environmental impacts of transport and methods to reduce the carbon impacts of transport. He has published over 200 papers in international journals and conferences and to date has been awarded approx. €7 million in research funding. He c...

Alicia O'Sullivan & Mohammad Naeem are the UN Youth Delegates for Ireland in 2023/2024. They chat about their journey towards being appointed in the role, what they actually do, their experiences of the UN, would they recommend it and what's next for them.  UN Summit of the Future.  United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)   UN Youth Delegates for Ireland Instagram.    Comhairle na nÓg are counc...

Dr Clodagh Harris is a senior lecturer in the Department of Government & Politics in UCC and affiliate of the Environmental Research Institute and MaREI.  Her research focuses on deliberative and participatory democracy; democratic innovations; and deliberative democracy and climate change. She sits on the expert advisory group of Ireland’s Citizen Assembly on biodiversity loss and is part of...

Meaghan is the Coordinator of Coalition 2030 where she supports over 70 Irish Civil Society Organisations in their collaborative efforts to bring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to fruition. She has eight years of experience in the non-profit world pushing for social, environmental and financial justice, while simultaneously developing a skill-set ranging from policy analysis and campaign...

Fleachta Phelan is Senior Policy Advocate with the Disability Federation of Ireland. She chats with Susanne Rogers about  The Cost of Disability in Ireland – Research Report (The Indecon Report), the history behind it and what we are likely to see next.    Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025 Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters Green Paper on Disability Reform – A Public Consultation to R...

Séamus Boland is the CEO of Irish Rural Link and the current President of the European Economic Social Council - Diversity Group III. The Diversity Group is made up of delegates drawn from each member state, representing sectors which include, community, agriculture, environment, consumers, social economy and various professions. He spoke at our 2021 Annual Social Policy Conference, Social Rights...

As Ireland becomes more and more diverse, assisting communities to thrive and develop as they adapt is vital. Valerie McAllorum Byrne is Integration Officer with Fingal County Council. She chats with Susanne Rogers about the work she does in this vibrant, diverse growing county to support everyone living there to be part of the community. Learn more about the work HERE. If you read this on time an...

In today's episode, Colette Bennett chats to Dr. Yvonne Skipper of Glasgow University on a brilliant project - Project Real - which provides a full, fun and interactive lesson plan for educators of 11-13 year olds on how to spot fake news, fake photos, fake people, and fake videos. Check it out at www.projectreal.co.uk This is a really timely interview in light of a recent report which indicated t...

In May 2023, Coalition 2030 published their Report, authored by Sorley McCaughey (independent freelance public affairs, advocacy and communications strategist), 'Furthest Behind First, or Falling Behind Further? The human stories that challenge Ireland’s claims to be leaving no one behind' which can be accessed HERE. Following on then, in July 2023, a delegation of Coalition 2030 members travelled...

MECPATHS is the only non-profit organisation in Ireland which focuses specifically on the issue of Child Trafficking.  It works to raise awareness on this hidden issue and educates frontline and emerging professionals to prevent Child Trafficking and enhance existing protective measures. Education Manager, Ann Mara and Network & Communications Manager, J.P. O’Sullivan chat with Susanne Rogers...

Dr. Patricia Scanlon is the founder and Executive Chair of SoapBox Labs, now the world's leading provider of Voice AI for children. In 2022, the Irish Government appointed Dr. Scanlon Ireland’s first AI Ambassador. Dr. Scanlon holds a PhD and has 25 years experience working in Artificial Intelligence and speech recognition technology, including at Bell Labs and IBM. She has been granted 7 patents...

We all know that Ireland's population is living longer, which is really good news! However, we need to plan for the needs of our future older people today, particularly in the area of housing. A new report commissioned by ALONE and Threshold, ' Double Deficit: Older and Ageing Persons in the Private Rental Sector ', highlights the experience of older people who are renting privately, the impact th...

Dr Peter Doran is a founding member of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance hub on the island of Ireland and has worked with the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust on a wellbeing outcomes framework for the Northern Ireland Programme for Government. He is a senior lecturer at the School of Law at the Queen's University Belfast and a senior writer with the International Institute for Sustainable Development's...

In this week's episode, Colette Bennett, Economic and Social Analyst, chats with Paul Goldrick Kelly, Economist at the Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI) about his latest blog on carbon locks. What they are, where they are, and what needs to be done to progress towards a real just transition. If you're not familiar with their work, check out NERI's website - www.neriinstitute.net  - and subs...

Niamh Moore-Cherry is Professor in the School of Geography, Deputy College Principal in the UCD College of Social Sciences and Law, and Honorary Professor at the Bartlett School of Planning, University College London. Her research is focused on understanding governance and the impact of territorial politics on urban and regional outcomes. She founded and leads the Cities, Governance and Sustainabi...

Due to a technical glitch when we launched our Budget Choices 2024 policy briefing on Monday, 3rd July 2023, our launch did not record. But don't worry! We've recorded a podcast covering all of the relevant details from the launch, including your great questions. We hope you enjoy it.   Budget Choices 2024 is available to download here: Budget Choices 2024 | Social Justice Ireland

Issy Petrie is Research and Policy Officer with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVP) and Nicola Fox is National Development Officer with Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS).  They chat with Susanne Rogers about energy poverty in Ireland, who is affected, what supports are available and policy asks into the future.    Find out more about SVP HERE. Find out more about MABS HERE.  

In this week's episode, Colette Bennett chats with Dr. Amanda Roberts and Avril Easton of the Irish Hospice Foundation on their research looking at the financial impact of bereavement. An estimated 300,000 people every year are impacted by bereavement and many of those will struggle, not just with the emotional fall-out, but the financial impact too. If you want to start planning for your future,...