
Social Justice Matters is a podcast from Social Justice Ireland. We are an independent justice advocacy think tank that advances the lives of people and communities through providing independent social analysis and effective policy development to create a sustainable future for every member of society and for societies as a whole.
Episodes

Thursday Jun 23, 2022
127. SJI Interviews Ep 78: The National Economic Dialogue 2022
Thursday Jun 23, 2022
Thursday Jun 23, 2022
The National Economic Dialogue 2022 took place in Dublin Castle on Monday, 20th June. Social Justice Ireland were in attendance, CEO, Seán Healy, Research and Policy Analyst, Michelle Murphy and Economic and Social Analyst, Colette Bennett. They chat with Research and Policy Analyst, Susanne Rogers about the background of the event, who participates, what happens on the day, our policy asks and the benefits of dialogue.
More information about this year's National Economic Dialogue can be found HERE.

Thursday Jun 16, 2022
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
This week's episode is a conversation between Susanne Roger and Karla Rogožar. Karla is the Project Assistant at IMPALA, the Independent Music Companies Association, representing nearly 6000 music companies across Europe. Karla is the coordinator of IMPALA’s sustainability task force and climate analysis group, gathered under a 15-point charter that the organisation released in early 2021. IMPALA also has a sustainability programme with voluntary targets for members, find out more about it here and discover more about their carbon calculator made with Julie’s Bicycle (the first bespoke tool in the sector) here. They chat about IMPALA, the 15 point climate charter, the vinyl resurgence and climate action for the music industry.

Thursday Jun 09, 2022
125. SJI Interviews Ep 76: Lifelong Learning with Nora Condon, Solas
Thursday Jun 09, 2022
Thursday Jun 09, 2022
This week, Susanne Rogers chats with Nora Condon, Senior Data Analyst with Solas about lifelong learning and gaining skills for life and work. The world of work is changing with green and digital transitions and as we live longer, we may work for longer. We need access to upskilling and reskilling in order to benefit from these opportunities and deal with the challenges.
SOLAS is the State agency tasked with building a world class Further Education and Training (FET) sector to fuel Ireland’s future. All their work can be accessed HERE. We discuss these three reports specifically Lifelong Learning Women on home duties Moving on up.
Further information about courses and options for learning can be found here: https://www.fetchcourses.ie/ and https://smartchoices.ie/

Thursday Jun 02, 2022
Thursday Jun 02, 2022
Liina Carr was re-elected ETUC Confederal Secretary in 2019, having first been elected in 2015. Her responsibilities at ETUC include macroeconomic policy, economic governance and the European Semester, the European Pillar of Social Rights, social protection, external relations, implementation of UN Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals in the EU and development cooperation, as well as human resources. Liina has been a member of the European Economic and Social Committee since 2004.
We can listen back to Liina presenting her paper for the Social Justice Ireland's 34th Annual Social Policy Conference on the European Pillar of Social Rights, "The role of the European Trade Union Confederation in delivering the EU Pillar of Social Rights".
All the Papers and Videos from the Conference can be accessed HERE.

Thursday May 26, 2022
123. SJI Interviews Ep 75: Violence in Women’s Prisons with Keith Adams, JCFJ
Thursday May 26, 2022
Thursday May 26, 2022
There have been a number of reports recently of issues and complaints in Dóchas, the women's prison in the Mountjoy campus in Dublin. In this week's episode, Colette Bennett discusses these issues, the lack of transparency and the Government's decision not to publish reports of the Inspector of Prisons, as well as how the narrative to end violence against women leaves many behind.
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.

Thursday May 19, 2022
122. Special Episode: The MA in Social Justice and Public Policy 2022
Thursday May 19, 2022
Thursday May 19, 2022
Social Justice Ireland is a key partner in a Masters programme that is run in conjunction with the Waterford IT campus of the new South East Technological University and delivered in Dublin city. This programme is called the MA in Social Justice and Public Policy.
This is our second special episode of Social Justice Matters and it should be of great interest to anyone considering enrolling in this MA. The episode is anchored by MA Programme Leader Dr. Paul Clogher of WIT, and includes information on the evolution of the programme and the major ideas and themes behind.
We also hear from Dr. Susan Flynn, Head of the Department of Arts, Dr. Hazel O'Brien, Department of Arts, Dr. Seán Healy, CEO, Social Justice Ireland and we get the student experience of the programme from recent graduate Susanne Rogers, who also works for Social Justice Ireland as a research and policy analyst.
More details about this programme are available here: https://www.wit.ie/courses/ma-in-social-justice-and-public-policy

Thursday May 12, 2022
121. SJI Interviews Ep 74: Children’s Rights with Saoirse Brady
Thursday May 12, 2022
Thursday May 12, 2022
The Children's Rights Alliance published its Report Card 2022 in February of this year (Report Card 2022 | Children's Rights Alliance (childrensrights.ie)) "the second analysis of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party’s joint Programme for Government: Our Shared Future and how it performed for children in 2021."
In this week's episode, Colette Bennett chats with Saoirse Brady of the Alliance about the results of this year's Report Card, the improvements that have been made in the area and the policy challenges that are yet to be overcome.

Thursday May 05, 2022
Thursday May 05, 2022
We launched our socio-economic review for 2022 on Tuesday, 19th April 2022. 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 presentations from this launch. The full publication is also available to download from our website here.

Thursday Apr 28, 2022
119. SJI Interviews EP.73: Séamus Boland on the Conference of the Future of Europe
Thursday Apr 28, 2022
Thursday Apr 28, 2022
This week, Séamus Boland, from the European Economic Social Council, chats with Susanne Rogers about the Conference on the Future of Europe. As Europe shapes more and more of Irish life, whose voice gets to be heard is an important topic.
Séamus is 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.

Thursday Apr 21, 2022
118. SJI Interviews Ep72: Ruairi McKiernan on connections and a new Social Contract
Thursday Apr 21, 2022
Thursday Apr 21, 2022
We need a radical re-think of our society and our place in it. In today's episode, Colette Bennett chats with Ruairi McKiernan about the Ukrainian crisis; the need for connection; youth mental health; a new Social Contract; and finding our place in it all. It's a fascinating episode.