Social Justice Matters

197. SJI. Interviews Ep. 121: Social Justice Ireland response to Programme For Government - Securing Ireland’s Future

Government's plan for the next 5 years has been published - Programme for Government 2025 : Securing Ireland’s Future 

Research and Policy Analysts Michelle Murphy and Susanne Rogers chat about preliminary thoughts and reactions.

More on Social Justice Ireland's response HERE.  

We are delighted that Social Justice Matters has been recognised by Feedspot as one of the 35 social justice podcasts you should be following in 2025. Check out the list here. 

196. SJI Seminars Ep48: Shane Colclough on the Costs, Benefits and Stakeholder Analysis of an Irish Social Housing Deep Energy Retrofit Case Study

Our 2023 Annual Social Policy Conference was on the theme of 'A Just Transition'. The fundamental principle of a Just Transition is to leave no people, communities, economic sectors or regions behind as we transition to a low carbon future. Such a transition means changing how we travel, communicate, work, what we eat, wear and even the entertainment we consume. 

Dr Shane Colclough DipEE, BSc(Eng), MIE, MBA, PhD, MIEI, C.Eng, EurIng is a Chartered Engineer and carries out research at The School of Architecture Planning and Environmental Policy at University College Dublin and at the Centre for sustainable technologies in Ulster University. He is also principal at the consultancy firm Energy Expertise Limited. His research area of interest for the past 10 years has focused on low-energy dwellings in Temperate Maritime Climates and Building Performance Evaluation. He believes passionately in the potential afforded by the low-energy building standards in providing a better standard of housing for our citizens, simultaneously reducing Ireland’s dependence on fossil fuels and eliminating fuel poverty. He is co-chairman of the Passive House Association of Ireland and has authored papers on the topic of passive houses & energy storage in addition to presenting at national and international conferences. He is an experienced consultant and serves in the EU as an Expert on Energy-Efficient Buildings. 

Shane presented his paper at our 2023 Annual Social Policy Conference. 

All videos, papers and presentations for the 2023 Annual Social Policy conference are available for download HERE.

We are delighted that Social Justice Matters has been recognised by Feedspot as one of the 35 social justice podcasts you should be following in 2025. Check out the list here. 

195. SJI Interviews Ep.120: Michelle Murphy on the Just Transition Commission

The Just Transition Commission is an advisory body established by Government in April 2024. Michelle Murphy, research and policy analyst with Social Justice Ireland has been appointed to the Commission. In this episode, she explains what that means and the aims and objectives of the Commission.

194. SJI Seminars Ep46: Dermot McCarthy on The impact of social justice advocacy: a policy maker’s reflections

At our conference to mark the retirement of Seán Healy and Brigid Reynolds in January 2024, Dermot McCarthy presented a paper entitled 'The impact of social justice advocacy: a policy maker’s reflections'.

To watch that presentation or any of the other speakers, the full conference is available here. 

 

193. SJI Interviews Ep.119: Night Time Economy with Dr. Daithí Kearney and Dr. Kevin Burns

Dr. Daithí Kearney is an Ethnomusicologist, geographer and performer. He is a lecturer in music, theatre and tourism and co-director of the Creative Arts Research Centre at Dundalk Institute of Technology. His research is primarily focused on Irish traditional music but extends to include performance studies, community music and music tourism. Daithí has toured regularly as a musician, singer and dancer with a number of groups including Siamsa Tíre, The National Folk Theatre of Ireland. In 2012 he released an album with Cork accordion player John Cronin entitled Midleton Rare, which is related to a wider research project on the music and musicians of the Sliabh Luachra region. In 2017 he released an album of new compositions with Dr Adèle Commins entitled A Louth Lilt. Their compositions also feature on the 2020 recording by Ceolta Sí entitled Oidhreacht Eochaille and are regularly performed by the award-winning Oriel Traditional Orchestra, of which they are both musical directors. 

Dr. Kevin Burns is Head of Department (Acting) Dept of Hospitality Management at Dundalk Institute of Technology. Kevin is skilled in Hospitality Industry, Tourism Management, Social Media, and Training with a Doctor of Hospitality and Tourism Management focused on Tourist Behaviour from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. 

Daithí and Kevin chat with Susanne Rogers about what we mean by the night time economy, who it's for, who it impacts and what we would like to see coming in the future, particularly outside the major cities and towns. 

Report of the Night-Time Economy Taskforce

 

192. SJI Seminars Ep45: Income Inequality and Poverty - A Fifty Year View with Dr Catherine Kavanagh and Dr Micheál Collins

At our conference to mark the retirement of Seán Healy and Brigid Reynolds in January 2024, Dr Catherine Kavanagh and Dr Micheál Collins presented a paper, 'Income Inequality and Poverty: A fifty year view'.  

 

To watch their presentation or any of the other speakers, the full conference is available here. 

 

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.