Minister for Community Development and Charities, Joe O’Brien TD, has launched an agreed set of Values and Principles for Collaboration and Partnership with the Community and Voluntary Sector. The launch took place at Outhouse Resource Centre, Capel St in Dublin, a community and voluntary organisation supporting the LGBT+ Community, their friends, families and allies. At the launch Minister O’Brien stated;
“these shared Values and Principles …will form the bedrock of engagement and collaboration going forward. These Values and Principles will support consultation, inclusion and participation of communities, particularly disadvantaged communities, in public policy and decision-making at all levels and forms a foundation for collective approaches to local and national issues. The success of this initiative will ultimately be in the realisation and embedding of these Values and Principles, and I look forward to championing them.”
At the launch L-R Ivan Cooper (The Wheel) Mary Hurley (General Secretary Department of Rural and Community Development), Minister Joe O Brien, Rachel Doyle (CWI).
The values and principles were warmly welcomed by all government departments and will now be championed by the Department of Rural and Community Development.
Also speaking at the launch Rachel Doyle of CWI said; “To assume that putting these values into practice is easy for any of us, would be naïve of us. Making a commitment to this practice requires all of us to recognise the need for ongoing trust building, increased power sharing, mutual recognition and respect, and putting in place structures, processes and resources to maximise all of our contributions. It requires us too, to collectively challenge those who promote racism, sexism and disharmony in our communities and in society including those who align with far right actors. These challenges are not easy to address but they are essential to address”.
