Social Justice Matters

142. SJI Seminars Ep.33: Larry O’Connell and Anne-Marie McGauran, NESC on Ireland’s Wellbeing Journey

Dr. Larry O’Connell is the Director of the National Economic and Social Council (NESC), and Chief Officer of the National Economic and Social Development Office (NESDO). As senior economist in NESC, since 2007, he worked on a range of policy areas including Ireland’s transition to low-carbon and digital future; housing and land; climate change and sustainable development; higher education funding; and Ireland’s five part crisis.

Anne-Marie McGauran is Policy Analyst with NESC. Her work focuses on equality and social issues.  In NESC, she led the 2021 projects on digital inclusion, and the roll-out of the Community Call initiative to support vulnerable people during Covid-19 lockdowns. In 2022, she led the project looking at how well-being policies are implemented internationally. She is currently working on the NESC project on Ireland’s economic resilience and vulnerability, looking at social vulnerabilities. 

They presented their paper, Ireland’s Wellbeing Journey, co-written with Helen Johnston, Senior Policy Analyst, NESC, at our 2022 Annual Social Policy Conference on the theme 'Towards Wellbeing For All'.  The videos, graphics and papers for the conference can all be accessed Here.

 

141. SJI Seminars Ep32: Gabriel Makhlouf, Governor of the Central Bank on Monetary policy, regulation and inequality: a tale of inter-linkages

Gabriel Makhlouf is the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, taking up that position on 1 September 2019. He chairs the Central Bank Commission, is a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, a member of the European Systemic Risk Board, and is Ireland's Alternate Governor at the International Monetary Fund. 

Before joining the Central Bank Gabriel was Secretary to the New Zealand Treasury and the Government's chief economic and financial adviser from 2011 to 2019. During his time as Secretary, he led reviews of New Zealand's three macroeconomic pillars (monetary, financial stability and fiscal policy) and the development of a new framework for the development of economic and public policy focused on intergenerational wellbeing.

He spoke at the Annual Social Policy Conference 2022 on the theme of 'Towards Wellbeing for All'. The videos, graphics and papers for the conference can all be accessed Here.

140 SJI Interviews Ep87: Climate Action with Clare O’Connor, Friends of the Earth

Michelle Murphy talks to Clare O’Connor, Energy Policy Officer with Friends of the Earth about climate change, climate action, protecting the vulnerable and COP27.

139. SJI Interviews Ep86: The Living Wage with Robert Thornton and Ciarán Nugent, Living Wage Technical Group.

At the end of October 2022, the Living Wage Technical Group launched the Living Wage of €13.85 for 2022/2023. The Living Wage is a wage which makes possible a minimum acceptable standard of living and is evidence based and grounded in social consensus.

Two members of the group, Robert Thornton, Research Manager at Vincentian MESL Research Centre and Ciarán Nugent, Economist at the Nevin Economic Research Institute explain how the figure is arrived at and why it matters. 

138. SJI Interviews Ep85: School Libraries with Kathleen Moran

Kathleen Moran is Chairperson of the School Libraries Group of the Library Association of Ireland to talk about school libraries in Ireland.  She chats to Michelle Murphy about the importance of school libraries and school librarians, and what needs to be done to ensure every child and young person in Ireland has access to a fully staffed school library.

137. SJI Seminars Ep31. Hugh Frazer - How the European Pillar of Social Rights can help to advance social policy in Ireland

Hugh Frazer is an expert on European policies to combat poverty and social exclusion, especially child poverty. He played a lead role in the feasibility studies that contributed to the establishment of the European Child Guarantee.  He has acted as adviser to a wide range of national and European organisations ( ESN, Eurochild, EAPN and UNICEF). He is a former coordinator of the European Social Policy Network (2006-2019); worked as an expert on social inclusion policy in the European Commission (2001-2006); was director of the Irish government's Combat Poverty Agency (1987-2001) and was director of the Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust (1979-1986 – now the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland). He is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Applied Social Studies, Maynooth University (Ireland).

We can listen back to Hugh presenting his paper for the Social Justice Ireland's 34th Annual Social Policy Conference on the European Pillar of Social Rights, "How the European Pillar of Social Rights can help to advance social policy in Ireland ".

All the Papers and Videos from the Conference can be accessed HERE.

136. SJI Interviews Ep84: State of the European Union Address with Barbara Nolan

Barbara Nolan is Head of the European Commission Representation in Ireland.  She chats to Michelle Murphy about the State of the European Union Address 2022, what the main themes were in this year’s address and what they mean for policy direction in the European Union and in Ireland. 

135. SJI Interviews Ep83: Libraries with Stuart Hamilton

Stuart Hamilton is the Head of Libraries Development for the Local Government Management Agency. He is the national advisor on libraries in the local government sector and leads the strategic development and implementation of service innovation and change management.  He chats with Susanne Rogers about the importance of libraries to communities across the country, how they adapted to the pandemic, the move from analogue to digital, challenges to access of information and what lies ahead. 

Find out more about your local library in Ireland HERE. 

134. SJI 10 Minute Lessons Ep18: Preparing for Budget 2023

Budget 2023 is just around the corner. In the latest episode of our Ten Minute Lessons series, we talk about what the Budget is, we bring you through the Budget process, when you might expect to feel the impact of the Budget and how you can advocate for change. 

Our Budget Choices 2023 Policy Briefing can be found HERE. 

We are delighted that Social Justice Matters has been recognised by FeedSpot as one of the 40 social justice podcasts you should be following in 2022. Check out the list here: https://blog.feedspot.com/social_justice_podcasts/

133. SJI Interviews Ep82: Vote at 16 Campaign with Paul Gordon, NYCI

To mark United Nations International Day of Democracy,Paul Gordon chats with Susanne Rogers about the Vote at 16 campaign. Paul is Director of Policy and Advocacy with the National Youth Council of Ireland. We chat about the reasoning behind the campaign, experiences in other jurisdictions, the movement in Ireland and next steps.