by badminme | May 18, 2017 | Current, Housing, Local Community Development Committee, Members News, PPN News, SPC for Social Development
Clare PPN’s letter to Councillors about the crisis for rental accommodation in the County
At Clare PPN’s Plenary Meeting on Feb 1st 2017 the members present agreed a motion to adopt a human rights approach to housing. This means that all of Clare PPN’s Representatives are mandated to engage with their various forums and committees from the perspective that every human has a right to adequate housing. As the situation for housing in Ireland and in Clare has become more and more critical the Social Inclusion College and its representatives have taken various actions to draw attention to the issues. Following a meeting of the Social Inclusion College on Thursday 2nd March those who attended decided to ask Dermot Hayes who is the PPN’s representative on the Social Development Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) which deals with housing to call for an emergency to be declared in the county. The reasoning for this was that it would ensure that attention was drawn to the worsening situation which those in need of housing assistance in the county found themselves. At the meeting of this SPC on March 7th Dermot was not successful in having his suggestion taken on board by the SPC. Following this it was decided by the Social Inclusion Representatives on Clare PPN Secretariat, on the Social Development SPC, on the Local Community Development Committee and on the Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee that Clare PPN should write to all the Councillors in County Clare and ask for their ideas and suggestions on dealing with the issues. Clare PPN wrote to all Councillors on Friday May 12th and Clare PPN awaits their responses. A similar letter will be sent to TDs and Senators also.
Below is a copy of the letter which was sent to each elected Councillor
Clare Public Participation Network
Unit 1 Westgate Business Park,
Kilrush Road,
Ennis
086-1617375
www.clareppn.ie
12/5/16
Dear Councillor
I am writing to you on behalf of Clare Public Participation Network’s Social Inclusion College to ask you to share your ideas and suggestions for addressing the current housing crisis in Clare. The Social Inclusion College is a grouping of those of our member groups who work to redress poverty, disadvantage and marginalisation in the County. These community groups have become extremely concerned by the housing situation in Clare where there are 2505 households on the housing waiting list and where there have been no social houses completed since 2015. The Social Inclusion College is aware of the plans to develop social housing projects in several areas of Clare with Approved Housing Bodies and in Private Public Partnerships and of Clare County Council’s attempts to purchase and lease vacant houses but it is already clear that even these welcome efforts will not address the extent of the crisis that currently exists not to mind the situation which may be in evidence by the time these developments are completed. The Social Inclusion College asked me to contact all of County Clare’s elected representatives and in particular you the Councillors, because it was felt that very often it is Councillors who are in direct contact with those in need of housing.
Clare PPN Social Inclusion College is extremely concerned at the effects of national policy directives which depend on the private rental sector to ameliorate the housing crisis. In Clare the figures are stark, on today’s date (12/5/17) there are a total of 70 properties available on Daft.ie for private rental in the County. It is the current situation that most of those presenting with housing needs in the County are now being directed towards the Housing Assistance Payment Scheme (HAP) which relies on a supply of private rental accommodation being available and it is clear that there is not anywhere near a sufficient supply of properties available for long term rental in the county to ensure that people and families have access to secure homes. At the current maximum rate of HAP Payment there are a total of 20 properties available in the County.
Clare PPN Social Inclusion college acknowledges that Councillors in County Clare work very closely with people seeking housing and so we are asking you for your responses and ideas on dealing with the housing crisis so that we can let our members know how you envisage this situation being addressed and what actions you intend to take yourself or within your political party to ensure it is addressed. We would be more than happy to receive even a paragraph or some key points about this from you as we appreciate how valuable your time is. We would be very much obliged if you would reply to us either by email to info@clareppn.ie or by post to the address above. Our members intend to circulate and/or publish the responses from each Councillor, TD and Senator on Clare PPN’s Website and social media channels and so we would like to receive all responses before Monday May 29th if at all possible.
Yours on behalf of Clare PPN’s Social Inclusion College
Mary O’Donoghue,
Clare PPN Secretariat and LCDC member.
by badminme | May 10, 2017 | Current, PPN News
Clare PPN Income and Expenditure 2016
Income €87,139.01
Income carried over to 2017: €00,855.18
Expenditure:
Gross Salary Expenses €38,762.52
Office Rental and Employment Hosting €06,970.00
Training (Economics, Mediation, Media Skills, Social Media) €14,385.35
Travel and Subsistence Expenses for Reps/Sec/Staff €06,581.16
Equipment (Laptop) €00,883.84
Phone €00,667.53
Advertising €02,718.29
Website/IT Support and Training/Video Making €04,860.00
Meetings/Catering/Venue Hire: €04,121.66
Sundries (post/design/printing/bank charges etc) €00,918.48
Projects (Survey/Research/Prizes/Community Award) €05,000.00
Insurance €00,415.00
Total Expenditure €86,283.83
by badminme | Apr 7, 2017 | Current, PPN News
Want to know what Clare dwellers think about life in Clare?
We asked 370 people and community groups for their thoughts on a whole range of issues from their own wellbeing to their views on local government in our specially designed survey. You can read the summary report here and it makes for interesting reading. Our sincere thanks to everyone who participated in the survey. We know what you’re thinking…
Summary Report from Clare PPN’s Monster Wellbeing Survey
by badminme | Apr 3, 2017 | Current, National, PPN News
Submission from Clare Public Participation Network to the Draft Rural Development Strategy 2017- 2028
Clare PPN made a general submission to the Council’s new Draft Rural Development Strategy 2017 – 2028 and it is here in full for those who wish to read it. Whilst it is up to our members themselves to make specific submissions about projects in their own areas this submission was intended to ensure that some of the general priorities Clare PPN agreed at its plenary meeting were named in the new strategy.
Dear Director,
Please find attached a list of items that Clare PPN would like to have named and detailed in the new rural development strategy for County Clare. As you know Clare PPN is a network of more than 200 community groups and these groups may take the opportunity to make separate, specific or project based submissions to this process themselves. Clare PPN as a network is committed to and recognises the importance of the protection of the human rights of people in the county and their livelihoods, the protection of the heritage, environment and landscape, and the necessity for all people within the community to be recognised and supported and these recommendations for inclusion in the Rural Development Strategy aim to ensure that these values will be highlighted and considered in all decision making. Clare PPN is committed to the sustainable economic and social development of Clare’s rural communities and welcomes this strategy. We will continue to participate in the process and make suggestions through our representative Christy Sinclair. We would much obliged if you would take these suggestions on board,
Christy Sinclair
Clare PPN Representative on the Rural Development Forum.
C/O Clare Public Participation Network
Unit One Westgate Business Park,
Kilrush Road,
Ennis.
Phone: 087 1617375
Email: sarah@clareppn.ie
Recommendations :
- All actions within this strategy will recognise housing as a human right and will seek to ensure that this right is realised for the people of Clare with particular attention to the urgent need for culturally appropriate accommodation for the ethnic minority Traveller community, for those escaping situations of domestic violence and those in emergency accommodation or facing homelessness.
- Clare County Council, in conjunction with the relevant agencies and organisations, will ensure that the people of Clare and the rural communities where they live will have access to the services and facilities required to live sustainably, including access to employment, education, training and medical care.
- All actions within this strategy will, in consultation with people who have disabilities, seek the progressive realisation of all the rights which are codified in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- All actions within this strategy will recognise the immediate threat posed by Climate Change and will seek to ensure that all developments or actions undertaken as part of this strategy will seek to mitigate climate change.
- All actions within this strategy will take the provisions of the Aarhus convention on public participation into account and ensure public participation is resourced and supported by all agencies and groups involved.
- This strategy recognises that issues in the surrounding counties and at sea may impact on the people or environment of County Clare and will include a commitment on the part of the Local Authority to monitor such developments and take any actions available to them to ensure that the environment, health and interests of the diverse people of Clare are protected.
- This strategy will recognise, celebrate and avail of the resources from the diverse communities who live in the county.
- Clare County Council should take responsibility for circulating all information regarding local, national and international opportunities for community groups to access funding opportunities in as timely a fashion as possible. Clare PPN suggests that they should dedicate an area of their website to this function and undertake to circulate a newsletter or other communication periodically.
by badminme | Feb 16, 2017 | Current, Housing, Members News, National, PPN News
Report by secretariat member George Atijohn from Clare PPN’s first County Plenary Meeting of 2017.
The meeting started with a welcome message and a brief introduction of what Clare PPN worked on in 2016 which as well as all the routine work of running the PPN included The Green Shoots Gathering – an environmental conference which took place in the Glor Theatre Ennis and which was oversubscribed.
The #ClareHowAreYa? well-being survey which attracted nearly 400 responses.
Clare PPN’s collaboration with the Clare People Newspaper in publishing a special issue of the paper at Christmas which contained Proclamations written by school children from all over Clare. 
Clare PPN also hosted workshops and training for its representatives and secretariat in media skills and mediation and in social media and there are plenty more such events planned for members and representatives for the year ahead.
Questions were asked by the old and new members about the activities of the Clare PPN
The following questions were asked:
- How much budget can PPN spend on training? The PPN’s budget was explained with members being told of the amounts which go towards salary, rent and representatives expenses and the remainder being available to fund the PPNs training, promotion and events budget.
- Is there any tangible outcome from the PPN’s reps participation in the various SPCs that have by now been running for about two years? This question provoked some discussion- with members of the LCDC explaining that many of the changes achieved were incremental and so were difficult to account for. Clare PPN’s resource worker explained that the previous year had mostly focussed on getting everything in place and in order and that 2017 would see the focus change towards making participation as effective as possible.
- Who controls the marketing budget within the PPN? The Secretariat
- Is there a difference between pillars and colleges? No
- What does social inclusion mean? This was explained and it was agreed to revisit the definition to ensure that this college is comprised of groups working on poverty reduction, and the active inclusion of marginalised communities.
- Can you be members of two different groups? Yes, but you may only be a contact person for one.
The following appointments were ratified at the plenary
- Graham Lightfoot’s appointment to Clare PPN secretariat
- Mary O’ Donoghue’s appointment to Clare PPN secretariat
- Oonagh O’ Dwyer’s election to the Fisheries Local action Group.
- Eugene Crimmins’ election to the Leader Programme Community Development and Social Inclusion Advisory Committee
- Ger O’ Halloran’s re-appointment to Clare Sports Partnership.
Members were informed about the vacant seat for the social inclusion on the secretariat, and for the new Rural Development Forum and the LTACC. It was explained that elections will be held to fill the vacant positions beginning in February.
Members of the Clare PPN present split into 3 colleges (Environment, Social Inclusion and Community and Voluntary) to deliberate on their work plan for the year ahead and the suggestions were all compiled for Clare PPN secretariat’s strategy day which takes place on Tuesday 28th Feb. It was agreed that both the environmental and social inclusion colleges would begin to meet as colleges more regularly with the environmental college’s first meeting due to take place on Feb 27th.
Finally two matters of Clare PPN’s policy were decided:
Firstly it was decided that Clare PPN would call for Ireland to ratify the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. Ireland is the only country in the EU which has not ratified this convention even though we signed up to it almost ten years ago and this is now an aim of Clare PPN.
Secondly a decision was taken that Clare PPN recognises Housing as a Human Right as defined in the UN Convention on Human Rights and The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and will carry out all its work on housing issues with that in mind.
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by badminme | Feb 15, 2017 | Current, Members News, PPN News
Report from the first meeting of FLAG West by Oonagh O’Dwyer
Oonagh O’Dwyer was elected to represent Clare PPN member groups on the newly formed Fisheries Local Action Group West and she recently attended their first official meeting which took place in the Maldron Hotel Galway on Feb 8th.
Here are her notes from that meeting:
Short report on first official Flag West Meeting. 8th Feb. Maldron Hotel, Galway.
The Flag programme was officially launched in Dublin on the 3rd Feb however this meeting I attended was the first official Flag West one. At the meeting Mr Paddy Crowe was appointed as the Chairman.
About Flag West:
Each FLAG is responsible for delivering a strategy for their area on a devolved basis. The groups will formulate a local development strategy that identifies suitable projects that require financial or expert assistance. With the development of these strategies, there will be a call for projects from individuals and local communities.
To qualify for funding, projects must satisfy specific criteria. For example, projects must be based in coastal areas and not located more than 10kms from the sea. In addition, projects must have a clearly identifiable marine connection or provide a specific benefit to a fishing region. In many cases, beneficiaries of support will be required to be either workers in the fisheries sector or persons with a job linked to the sector.
Flag West is one of 7 Flag areas around the country and the Board consists of representatives with an interest in the regeneration and sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture dependent communities and our flag covers the coastal areas of Clare and Galway including 10 Kilometres inland.
Flag west has 1.8 million in funding with 50% coming from EMFF . Funding is spread across 5 themes ,
1) Economic dev. Of coastal areas.
2) Promoting social well-being and coastal cultural Heritage.
3) Enabling more participative involvement in governance of fisheries.
4)Protecting and Promoting the Environment.
5) Harnessing and developing the skills and Knowledge of local coastal communities.
Applications are open now and close on the 15th March 2017. There will be a call again for grant applications later in the year. There is funding available for a diverse range of projects , subject to suitability and meeting certain criteria.
As a local Board member I am available for queries and to do my best as an ambassador for the Flag West programme. More details and on line application form at this link:
http://www.bim.ie/schemes/fisheries,local,area,group,development,flag,2016,-,2023/
My contact is oodcal2@hotmail.com
Mobile 0876877890.
