Social Justice Matters

191. SJI Interviews Ep118: Seán Moynihan and Aileen O'Reilly, ALONE on loneliness.

Aileen is the Senior Research & Evaluation Manager at ALONE. Prior to joining ALONE, Aileen worked at Jigsaw, The National Centre for Youth Mental Health, where her efforts played a critical role in the development of youth mental health services globally. Holding a PhD in psychology, she possesses a strong academic foundation that complements her practical experience. She has published research findings in reputable journals and has presented her work at numerous international conferences (see: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aileen-Oreilly-2).

Seán is Chief Executive Officer of Alone. After a career within the private sector, Seán moved to the NGO sector 20 years ago, working as Head of Housing and then Director of Service for the Simon Community. He went on to work as a Project Manager and consultant , working with many NGOs for a number of years before becoming Chief Executive of ALONE. Seán has also been involved in multiple national oversight groups, and has played a role in influencing social and health policies for older people on housing, loneliness, and ageing at home, in order to meet emerging needs of an ageing population. He has played a key role in advocating and developing services for and with older people, particularly those who are medically or socially vulnerable and whose voices and views often go unheard.

Seán and Aileen chat with Susanne Rogers about their work, what we understand as loneliness, why it is damaging and what we can do about it. 

ALONE ECC Report

HALO Report

Loneliness Taskforce Research Network website

Loneliness Taskforce report  

The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) Report - Social disconnection correlates of a ‘Wish to Die’ among a large community-dwelling cohort of older adults

EU-wide survey on loneliness

190. SJI Seminars Ep.44: Ambassador Raili Lahnalampi on the Finnish social security system and innovations paving the way towards a just and equal society

Raili Lahnalampi is Ambassador of Finland to Ireland. She served as the Chief of Cabinet for the Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2015 -2019. She was responsible for the foreign and security policy and for the relations with other ministries, state administration and representatives of other countries. Ms Lahnalampi has held various international positions and she has a strong background in foreign and security policy. Before having been nominated as Chief of Cabinet Ms Lahnalampi worked as the Counsel to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Finland. She has pursued a diplomatic carrier at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs over ten years and has served as an advisor to the Secretary-General of OECD and to the President of the UN General Assembly H.E. Harri Holkeri. After graduating from the University of Turku Law School (LL.M) Ms Lahnalampi continued her studies achieving a diploma in European integration from the University of Saarland and followed international and human rights law studies at the University of Notre Dame Law School.

Raili spoke at our 2022 Annual Social Policy Conference on the theme of Towards Wellbeing For All. 

All videos, papers and presentations are for the 2022 Annual Social Policy conference are available for download HERE.

189. SJI Interviews 117: Dr. James Casey on Disability Awareness, Accessibility and Equality

James Casey is a disability rights activist from the west of Ireland. He previously worked for the disabled person’s organisation ILMI as a policy advisor and prior to this role he worked on the transformative EU Onside Project. He holds a PhD in Critical Disability Studies from the University of Galway, where he was the recipient of a Doctoral Teaching Fellowship and he has presented at UN conferences on behalf of civil society. James, a disabled person, has worked as a lecturer, disability equality consultant and communications advisor in addition to his continued role as a peer reviewer with several international journals. 

Loosely prompted by Make Way Day, Susanne and James discuss the importance of inclusion, access and most importantly, dialogue with and by the disabled community to ensure equality of outcomes. 

Make Way Day 2024

ILMI - A Manifesto for Change Disabled People Taking Control

188. *Special Edition* Budget Choices 2025 - People and Participation

Research and Policy Analysts Michelle Murphy and Susanne Rogers chat through the key asks that will deliver for communities in Budget Choices 2025. 

187. SJI Interviews 116: Energy Poverty Solutions with Derek Roddy, EnergyCloud.

EnergyCloud work to create solutions to divert surplus renewable energy - which would otherwise be wasted - to Irish homes, with a primary focus on those in fuel poverty.

Derek Roddy is co-founder and CEO of climote, a home energy management company. He is a manufacturing and process engineer who represented Ireland in the World Skill Olympics. He developed a strong interest in the challenges of global warming. climote was established to provide technology solutions that manage energy consumption and allow users to transition from fossil fuel to zero carbon renewable energy. climote partners with ESB Networks, SSE, Scottish Power, and Power NI to deliver low-cost de-carbonization technologies to millions of homes. Prior to climote, Derek was co-founder of Smarthomes, Ireland's largest home technology company. A serial entrepreneur, he is passionate about social enterprise and building teams that can help make a real difference to people's lives.

He chats with Susanne Rogers about the work of Energycloud, the solutions to energy poverty it provides and how to scale up.  

 

186. *Special Edition* Budget Choices 2025 - Infrastructure

Michelle Murphy, Research and Policy Analyst and Mansi Rawat, Economic and Social Analyst chat with Susanne Rogers about the key infrastructure asks in Budget Choices 2025. 

100 Years of Irish Housing 

185. SJI Interviews 115: Ireland’s Public Spending Explained 2024 with Dr. Nat O'Connor

Nat O’Connor is lecturer in social policy in UCD’s School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice and part-time policy specialist at Age Action Ireland. He has taught politics and social policy since 1999. He has a PhD in political science from Trinity College Dublin and a MA in political science and social policy from the University of Dundee. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK), a member of the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) and chairperson of the Irish Social Policy Association (ISPA). You can find him on LinkedIn (natoconnor) and TwitterX @natpolicy

Nat chats with Susanne Rogers about the impetus, reasoning and content in his recent report Ireland’s Public Spending Explained 2024 

 

 

184. *Special Edition* Budget Choices 2025 - Rural Ireland and the Environment

Research and Policy Analysts Michelle Murphy and Susanne Rogers chat through the key asks for Rural Ireland and the environment in Budget Choices 2025. 

Our Just Transition Policy Paper -  'Delivering a Just Transition for Ireland: Policy Options'

183. SJI Interviews Ep.114: We are Generation Rent with Gareth Redmond, Threshold.

Gareth Redmond is Research and Policy Officer with Threshold Ireland. He chats with Susanne Rogers about findings in the most recent We are Generation Rent - Threshold's Annual Tenant Sentiment Survey 2024. 

Simon Talks Webinar - Joined Up Thinking: Proposals on Social Housing Reform from the Housing Commission

Book - Out of Reach - Inequalities in the Irish Housing System 

Report of The Housing Commission

ESRI Report - Poor housing conditions harm family wellbeing

Security and Agency in the Irish Private Rental Sector

 

182. *Special Edition* Budget Choices 2025 - Income Adequacy

Research and Policy Analysts Michelle Murphy and Susanne Rogers chat through the key social welfare asks in Budget Choices 2025.