Clare County Council Receives 3m Euro Housing Adaptation Grant

Minister of State and Clare T.D., Mr Tony Killeen says the Government remains committed to assisting older people or people with a disability to remain in their own homes.

His comment follows the allocation of 3,125,000 euro to Clare County Council under the Housing Adaptation Grants Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability for 2010.

Minister Killeen described it as a worthwhile scheme as it provided invaluable assistance to older people and people with a disability living in private houses. He added: “I am delighted, against the backdrop of the tight constraints on the public finances, that the Government has announced this record level of funding for the Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability. The Government remains very committed to facilitating the continued occupancy of their own homes by older people and people with a disability. A great many people require only very modest supports to continue living independently, close to their families and friends, provided their accommodation is secure and appropriate to their needs.”

Minister of State Killeen noted the high level of activity nationally under the grant schemes in 2009 with over 11,400 grants paid to applicants. He continued: “We have just experienced the toughest winter for 50 years and I am pleased to say that around 4,300 older people received assistance to improve their homes last year. The Government wishes to continue the great progress made since these new grant schemes were introduced just over 2 years ago. The 100 million euro announced nationally today by my colleague Mr. Michael Finneran, T.D., Minister for Housing, Urban Renewal and Developing Areas, will ensure this objective is realised”.

New Integration Strategy For Limerick City And County

The Minister for Integration, John Curran, T.D. (pictured) officially launched the Limerick City and County Integration Plan 2010-12 today.

“Integrating Limerick”, which has been developed by the Limerick Integration Working Group, is focused on actions supporting the integration of Limerick’s estimated 16,000 migrants into society.

The priority actions outlined in this Plan include enhancing participation of all communities in the social and cultural life of Limerick City and County; improving representation of minority communities in local governance and representative groups; providing equal opportunities for all by improving accessibility to rights and services, information and training; and promoting the acquisition of English language skills by migrants and integration in the mainstream education system.

Eugene Quinn, Joint Chair of the Limerick Integration Working Group explained that the new Plan was the result of a cross sectoral and community wide approach to promoting interculturalism in Limerick.

Addressing today’s launch event in The Hunt Museum in Limerick, he said: “The rapidly changing face, and indeed faces, of Limerick City and County present significant opportunities but also significant challenges. Integration is a very important issue for the region as the estimated 16,000 migrants that have located here form an important part of our labour market and local economy and are key to the continued growth of the region. This Plan seeks to enable them to fully participate in society, by promoting an inclusive and dynamic environment in Limerick in which all residents are valued, regardless of their nationality, religion or ethnic background.”

Mr. Quinn continued: “ In the three-year period from 2010 to 2012, we hope the actions contained in the Plan will enhance the lives of all who live and work in Limerick, will challenge discrimination where it occurs and will ultimately celebrate the diversity that is now part of everyday life in the City and County. In a wider context this Plan will be considered along with Interagency Initiatives for Travellers and Regeneration Plans to ensure coherence across all integration initiatives.”

Operating under the Social Inclusion Measures Committees of Limerick City and County, the Limerick Integration Working Group (IWG) was established in 2007 with the aim of bringing together statutory, community and voluntary bodies to address integration needs of migrant and host communities in Limerick. A key objective of the IWG was to develop an Integration Plan for both local authority areas.

IWG member groups include Limerick City Council, Limerick County Council, Doras Luimní, An Garda Síochána, FÁS, Department of Education and Science, Department of Social and Family Affairs, Health Service Executive, University of Limerick, Integration and Social Inclusion Centre of Ireland, Limerick City Adult Education Service, Jesuit Refugee Service Ireland, County Limerick VEC, Citizens Information Board, PAUL Partnership, New Communities Partnership, Ballyhoura Development Ltd., City Community and Voluntary Forum, West Limerick Resources and the Limerick Latvian Activity Centre.

Councillor David Naughton, Cathaoirleach of Limerick County Council said: “The publication of this Action Plan represents an important milestone in the lives of immigrants and ethnic groups living in Limerick City and County. I am delighted and, indeed, proud that Limerick has taken the initiative in developing this strategy, which assists and enables individuals to take responsibility for their own integration and helps them build a life for themselves in Ireland.”

Councillor Naughton, who is also Chairperson of Limerick County Development Board, continued: “Ireland is home to thousands of migrants who carry with them the same ambitions and dreams that we once carried with us during our centuries of emigration. The challenge for us as a society is not to just engage positively with this reality but to harness our collective ability to embrace this change. Ireland is in the midst of an economic recession in which many people, Irish and immigrant, are losing their jobs. Members of the local community in Limerick City and County must unite in these harsh times and continue to support one another for the sake of a fully functioning society and an eventual return to positive economic growth.”

Today’s launch event also featured a panel discussion entitled “Integration and the Recession”. Chaired by RTE’s Mid West correspondent Cathy Halloran, the discussion featured input from Justyna Cwojdzinski (JC English Language Institute), Pat O'Sullivan (Limerick Businessman), William Fabian (President of Limerick Filipino Community) and Michael MacNamara (Director of HSI Limerick Business School). Musical entertainment was provided on the day by the locally based Elikya Gospel Choir

According to Councillor Kevin Kiely, Mayor of Limerick, the Integration Plan would not have been completed without the commitment and dedication of all the people who served on the Integration Working Group over the last three years.

He continued: I am very impressed that this plan has identified specific actions for delivery over the lifetime of the plan and has identified the agencies responsible for the delivery of these actions. This should ensure that the plan is effective in impacting positively on the lives of migrants in the City and County, and is in line with the City Council’s own core value of Equality and Social Inclusion.”

“In the current economic climate it is essential that we enable all our citizens to play an active part in this country’s recovery, as outlined in the themes covered under this plan. The improvement of Education and Training Services, eliminating discrimination, providing for the health and welfare of migrants is the only option to enhance their employment prospects and it is only through employment that one can be fully integrated into the community”, concluded Mayor Kiely.

For further information on “Integrating Limerick: Limerick City and County Integration Plan 2010-12” telephone 061-480922 or visit www.limerickcdb.ie.

Ennis Book Club Festival Is Launched

An estimated 3,000 literary enthusiasts and some of Ireland and the UK’s best known writers will descend on Ennis, County Clare, for the 2010 Ennis Book Club Festival this weekend.

Supported by Clare County Library, the three-day programme of events is expected to attract Book Club members and book lovers from all over Europe and North America. The Festival programme features author visits, readings, lectures and workshops, exhibitions, walking history tours, musical entertainment and chocolate tasting in various venues around Ennis. It also includes Ireland’s first ‘Book Club of the Year Award’ and a professional development workshop for library staff.

Among the contributors to the fourth annual festival will be Lionel Shriver, prolific journalist and Orange Prize-winning author of ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ and ‘The Post-Birthday World’; Joseph O’Connor, journalist, screenwriter and author of ten Irish number one bestsellers including ‘Star Of The Sea’, ‘Cowboys and Indians’, ‘Desperadoes’, ‘The Salesman’ and ‘Inishowen’; Tim Pat Coogan, biographer, historian, journalist and writer of “Michael Collins” and ‘Ireland in the Twentieth Century’; Diarmaid Ferriter, author, historian, and university lecturer; Paul Howard, journalist, author and creator of the cult character Ross O'Carroll-Kelly; and Fiona Looney, columnist, playwright, scriptwriter and media personality.

Other participants include multi-award winning poet, Paul Durcan; Irish historian, crime novelist, journalist and broadcaster, Ruth Dudley Edwards; Irish author of ‘Tenderwire’, Claire Kilroy; US essayist, poet, short stories writer, funeral director and winner of the American Book Award and The Heartland Prize for Nonfiction, David McWilliams, Economist, Broadcaster and Journalist and author of “The Pope’s Children” and “Follow the Money: The Tale of the Merchant of Ennis”; Joe Duffy, Presenter of RTE Radio One’s popular daytime show ‘Liveline’; Thomas Lynch; historian and author of 1916 Rising novel ‘Blood Upon the Rose', Gerry Hunt; American poet Knute Skinner, Irish journalist, columnist and politician, Senator Eoghan Harris; poetry group Clare Three-Legged Stool Poets; editor of Irish magazine ‘Rí-Rá’, Aidan Courtney; Ennis-based graphic novel analyst David O’Leary; and journalist, broadcaster, author and founder of Grow-It-Yourself Ireland, Michael Kelly.

Academic contributors to the festival include Dr. Paul Delaney, School of English at Trinity College, who will lead a discussion on popular writer Colm Tóibín's work; Alan Titley, author, playwright, poet and Professor of Modern Irish and Head of Department at University College Cork; and Niall MacMonagle, reviewer, editor and English teacher at Dublin’s Wesley College, who will present a workshop entitled ‘How to Read a Novel’.

Claire Keegan, award-winning short story writer and author of “Antarctica” and “Walk the Blue Fields” in reading and discussing her writing with join Clare-based author Niall Williams. One of the highlights of the festival weekend will be The Sunday Symposium, during which Tim Pat Coogan, Ruth Dudley Edwards Senator Eoghan Harris and Diarmaid Ferriter will partake in a panel discussion on the subject of “Reading History”. The session will be chaired by experienced broadcaster, journalist and communications consultant, Caimin Jones.

Meanwhile, the Festival is inviting library staff nationwide to a free workshop on how to start, develop and challenge a Book Club. The professional development workshop, which will be presented by Anne Downes of Opening the Book, has been designed specifically for library staff who are interested or involved in book clubs and will cover areas such as managing group dynamics, injecting new life and bringing new ideas to reading groups”.

The 2010 Festival also features Ireland’s foremost ‘Book Club of the Year Award’, which has been won by the National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI) Audio Book Club from County Dublin.

According to Festival Chairperson Frances O’Gorman there has been a surge in membership among new and existing book clubs throughout Ireland. She added: “This weekend’s festival is a wonderful social and literary event that brings together Book Club members, readers and authors from all over Ireland and beyond. This coming days present a unique opportunity for all literary enthusiasts to share their joy of reading, to meet authors, to discuss books, and to have a weekend break with friends.”

The inaugural Ennis Book Club Festival was held in 2007. Past participants include Patrick McCabe, John Boyne, Carlo Gébler, Edna O’Brien, Joanne Harris, Brian Keenan, Roddy Doyle, Diarmuid Gavin, Hugo Hamilton, Allan Guthrie, Jennifer Johnston, John Connolly, Dermot Bolger, Salley Vickers, Fintan O'Toole, Gerard Donovan, Lorna Landvik, Gerry Adams and the late Nuala O Faolain. Previous festivals have attracted literary enthusiasts from all over North America and Europe, including members from many of Ireland’s 150 Library Book Clubs and more than 300 Private Book Clubs.

Tickets for all events are on sale at Glór Box Office 00353656843103 / boxoffice@glor.ie. Further details on ticket prices and the festival are available from (web) www.ennisbookclubfestival.com, (t) www.twitter.com/ebcf, (e) info@ennisbookclubfestival.com and (t) 087-9723647 /085 7842822.