Social Justice Matters

213. SJI Seminars Ep. 56: John Barry - Just transition: a conflict transformation approach

John Barry is Professor of Green Political Economy in the Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action at Queens University Belfast. 

John delivered his paper, 'Just transition: a conflict transformation approach' at our 2023 Annual Social Policy Conference - A Just Transition - Conference Videos and Papers

 

212. SJI Interviews Ep.128: Food Poverty in Ballyfermot and Cherry Orchard with Triona O'Sullivan and Anne Fitzgerald

Liffey Partnership was established as a response to long term unemployment and poverty. They host and support a wide range of programmes dedicated to employment, education, community, enterprise, parenting, health and wellbeing. The mission is to bring people together to work for a fair and just society for all, aiming to strengthen bonds between individuals and communities and providing a path for diverse voices to be heard, respected, and celebrated. 

Anne Fitzgerald, Chief Executive Officer and Triona O'Sullivan, Health & Inclusion Programmes Manager discuss their recent report - Spinning Plates: Addressing Food Poverty in Cherry Orchard and Ballyfermot. 

2025 Spinning Plates Summary Report

2025 Spinning Plates Food Poverty in D10 Full Report

Pobal HP Deprivation Index

 

211. SJI Seminars Ep.55: Seán Ó Riain on 'Collective Enabling’ of Society through Decent Services.

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 economy in Ireland has experienced record growth since the pandemic, infrastructure and services in areas such as housing, healthcare and public transport are far below the levels and standards that would be expected in a normally functioning society.

Seán Ó Riain is Professor of Sociology at the National University of Ireland Maynooth.  
 
His research interests are in the sociology of work and employment, comparative political economy, inequality and social change and the global information economy.  
 
Seán is the author of: The Politics of High Tech Growth: Developmental Network States in the Global Economy (Cambridge, 2004)  The Rise and Fall of Ireland’s Celtic Tiger: Liberalism, Boom and Bust (Cambridge, 2014) and co-editor of The Changing Worlds and Workplaces of Capitalism (Palgrave, 2015).  
 
He was PI for New Deals in the New Economy, a five year study of workplace bargains in Europe (www.maynoothuniversity.ie/newdeals), funded by a European Research Council Consolidator Grant. 
 
He was a member of the National Economic and Social Council from 2011 to 2017.   

Seán presented his paper at our 2024 Annual Social Policy Conference. 

All videos, papers and presentations for the 2024 Annual Social Policy conference are available for download HERE.

Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses.

Our podcast is featured as a Best Social Justice podcast on MillionPodcasts - a hand-curated database of amazing podcasts. 

 

 

210. SJI Interviews Ep.127: Social Justice Ireland respond to the National Development Plan Review and the Summer Economic Statement

Lots of Summer Blockbuster reading! Research and Policy Analysts, Michelle and Susanne briefly chat initial takes on the National Development Plan Review and the Summer Economic Statement.  

Summer Economic Statement 2025

National Development Plan Review 2025

Report on Stakeholder Engagement and Emerging Themes on Infrastructure

Budget 2026 Tax Strategy Group papers

NPF Implementation: Housing Growth Requirements

209. SJI 10 Minute Lessons Ep.21: Benchmarking Social Welfare

Social Justice Ireland has long advocated that Government should commit to benchmarking core social welfare rates to average earnings to protect vulnerable households. This 10 minute lesson explains why. 

Our podcast is featured as a Best Social Justice podcast on MillionPodcasts - a hand-curated database of amazing podcasts. 

208. SJI Seminars Ep.54: Budget Choices 2026

Fairness must be at the centre of Budget 2026.  We are wealthier than at any time in our history, and yet almost 630,000 people are living below the poverty line, 190,000 of whom are children. Over 15,500 people are in emergency homeless accommodation.   Now is the time for Government to show ambition in delivering on its promises by running a progressive budget, properly funding public services and infrastructure and investing in policies that will make a positive difference to people and communities.

This episode is a listen back to our Budget Choices 2026 launch. Download the full policy briefing, or take a look at the video HERE. 

207. SJI Interviews Ep.126: Integration through Arts and Culture with Dr. Mamobo Ogoro

Dr. Mamobo Ogoro is a Social Psychologist, Scholar, Broadcaster and multi-award winning social entrepreneur. Mamobo’s PhD research focused on migrant identity and how systems of inclusion and exclusion impact belonging for migrant communities. As a result, she founded, and acts as the CEO of GORM, an award winning social enterprise on a mission to unify across differences and advance belonging for marginalised communities through intercultural media and education. Mamobo is an avid conversationalist and sits as the youngest presenter on NewstalkFM, hosting the show ‘Younified’. Mamobo has been heralded for her work with GORM on countless occasions. In 2024 she was listed as the first Echoing Green Fellow in Ireland (Previous fellows include Michelle Obama and Van Jones), and most recently won “Female Entrepreneur of the Year” Award in the South Dublin Local Enterprise Office Award 2025. 

Mamobo spends most of her time working with organisations around the world, helping them develop intercultural leaders. She chats with us about belonging, culture, integration, community, story, journeying from tolerance to acceptance and explains peach and coconut countries!

https://www.gormmedia.com/unified-business-programme 

 

https://www.gormmedia.com/programmes/the-wideshot 

206. SJI Seminars Ep.53: Launch of National Social Monitor - Putting Fairness First: Delivering the Programme for Government

The Programme for Government (PfG)- Securing Our Future, published in January 2025, outlines a series of commitments made by Government across a range of policy areas. Social Justice Ireland welcomed the PfG and believes that it contains several policies and proposals that, if resourced and implemented, would represent a significant step to creating a fairer and more just Ireland. These policies would make a positive difference to society, to our wellbeing and to our communities. However, the programme also contains several causes for concern with a lack of real ambition around poverty and income adequacy and a lack of policy coherence in other areas.

Read the publication and watch the full webinar HERE.

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205. SJI Interviews Ep.125: William Welser IV - Can AI close the wealth gap?

William Welser IV is Chief Executive Officer, Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder of Lotic.ai.

As a passionate, curious, and creative technologist, he is dedicated to generating visions for the future that are big, bold, and fearless. In his roles at Lotic, he directs innovation, technology infrastructure, and user experiences.

William has tackled, communicated, and solved complex problems throughout his career using storytelling, multidisciplinary teams of experts, and state of the art methods and technologies. He has a rich history with organizations like the RAND Corporation, where he tackled some of society’s tough challenges, like bias in AI and the evolution of tech landscapes. His efforts have consistently been about bridging tech with social justice, crafting a future where initially impossible ideas become realities and grounded in economic fairness. 

William chats with us about wealth, wealth inequality and using data and AI to ultimately create value and make positive change. 

TEDxManhattanBeach - Bill Welser - How to ensure Al is a force for good

TEDxPaloAlto - William (Bill) Welser IV - Self-tracking and storytelling to make sense of your world

Our podcast is featured as a Best Social Justice podcast on MillionPodcasts - a hand-curated database of amazing podcasts. 

 

 

204. SJI Seminars Ep 52: Transition performance and capacity: A comparison between Ireland, Austria and Sweden with Paul Goldrick Kelly

Paul Goldrick Kelly is an economist with the Nevin Economic Research Institute. Paul is a graduate of University College Dublin with a HDIP and MA in Economic Science, Paul's work has examined issues related to healthcare, housing, tax and revenue sufficiency as well as productivity performance in the Republic of Ireland.
Paul's current research interests relate to ecological sustainability and political economy, incorporating issues
related to Just Transition.

Paul presented a paper at our 2023 Annual Social Policy Conference on the theme of A Just Transition. 

Watch the conference HERE. 

Our podcast is featured as a Best Social Justice podcast on MillionPodcasts - a hand-curated database of amazing podcasts.