Dublin Inner City Coordinating Local Development

Dublin Inner City Partnership
Local Community Networks
Drugs Task Forces
Community Development Projects

Introduction

Over the past decade and a half the local and community development sector in the inner city has made a significant contribution to the social and economic development and rejuvenation of the area through involvement in a complexity of social and economic activities including education, health, social & community development, environmental, employment, training and enterprise. There has been a history in the inner city of collaboration and cooperation between community based organisations and activists including joint planning and sharing of training, information and resources.

Inner city development organisations have promoted a collaborative approach to local development through the establishment of community based umbrella networks. The networks became the means to enhance and co-ordinate the participation of local organisations and residents as well as achieving greater co-operation and collaboration in their efforts to more effectively target and tackle poverty, discrimination and social exclusion. Since their inception, the networks have strongly advocated an inter-agency and integrated approach to social, economic, cultural and environmental regeneration and development activity.

The community groups affiliated to the networks inform and influence the networks’ aims, objectives and priorities. These community-based organisations, while independent and autonomous, give the networks strategic cohesion and unity of strength when negotiating for increased resources and investment in their areas. In order to consolidate this approach and complement the Government's endeavours to maximise collaboration, cooperation and synergy of state sponsored local and community development activities, the Dublin Inner City Partnership in collaboration with the local Drugs Task Force, the inner city Community Development Projects and the local RAPID programme have agreed to work for greater collaboration, co-operation and sharing in the inner city area.

The Dublin City Development Board plan designates the Partnership as the lead agency for the co-ordination and targeting of social inclusion activity in the inner city area. As a means to achieve this, inner city local development organisations have agreed the following:

• The community-based networks through the Social Inclusion Coordinators will provide a coordinated support to facilitate a collaborative strategy for the development activities of local and community development organisations as a means to maximise the benefits to local socially excluded individuals and families while minimising duplication of the efforts of these organisations.
• Local organisations as autonomous and independent parts of the networks will co-operate to overcome conflict and competition between each other in their endeavours to develop a strong, cohesive and mutually supportive Network that will enhance the effectiveness of each other’s work.
• Local organisations will seek the support of regional statutory, local authority and local development agencies to help strengthen the inner city community-based networks and their affiliated organisations and recognise the ability of these organisations to complement statutory service provision as well as facilitate the enhanced participation of locally excluded individuals and groups in the local and community development decision making process.

Explaining the Local Development Approach

An essential element to local development is that it means different things for different people but can be seen as both 'top-down' and 'bottom-up' in that it is defined by the State and redefined through engagement with local players. However, in the inner city the necessary element of local development is one that takes a community development and area based approach to counter cumulative disadvantage. It promotes equality through social and economic inclusion by adopting a multi-dimensional and partnership approach to tackling local issues on the basis of comprehensive, integrated local development plans.

These plans are designed to counter social exclusion and to equitably target the opportunities and benefits of development to the most disadvantaged individuals and groups within their areas. Local development also operates as a catalyst in the coordinated and collaborative development of local initiatives to complement national development and public service provision by releasing local potential for productive social and economic development This report sets out the key local and community development organisations charged with the function of combating poverty, inequality and social exclusion in Dublin's inner city.

While these organisations do not represent the totality of community-based activity in their areas, they perform a vital catalytic role in facilitating much greater social inclusion actions in these areas. This report was produced specifically in response to the Government's endeavours to maximise collaboration, co-operation and synergy between local and community development activities.

Profile of Inner City Local and Community Development Projects

The principal aim of the DICP is to improve the quality of life and secure the rights of income poor inner city residents, through increased access to quality education and employment opportunities and by increasing public and private investment in disadvantaged areas. The Partnership operates to a six-year strategic plan which is primarily aimed at achieving social and economic rights for inner city residents.

The DICP approach provides a strategic framework for sustainable community regeneration with an emphasis on partnership and community-based responses. The Partnership invests in a community infrastructure to operate a catalyst and brokering role to support a more coordinated and collaborative approach to the delivery of public services, stimulation of local economic development and the collective influence to lever inward investment to our targeted areas, groups and individuals.

The stated objectives of the NICDTF are to:

• Remove the chaos of problem drug use through immediate treatment interventions
• Understand problem drug use as a result of social, economic and political circumstances. The NIC Drugs Task Force has developed a programme for action which has provided a balance between treatment, rehabilitation, prevention, education and enforcement measures. A networked community development and equality approach remains central to the strategy. Such an approach demands that the strategy is inclusive of the community, including drug users and their families. In line with the Government’s drugs policy the aim of the Task Force is to provide an integrated response to the problems posed by drug misuse.The key objectives of the SICDTF include:
• Reducing the number of people turning to drugs in the first instance through comprehensive education and prevention programmes
• Supporting measures aimed at reducing the harm to those actively using drugs
• Providing appropriate treatment, rehabilitation and aftercare for those who are dependent on drugs
• Having appropriate mechanisms in place aimed at reducing the supply of illicit drugs
• Ensuring that an appropriate level of accurate and timely information is available to inform the response to the drug problem
• Supporting families and communities affected by drug use Operating in designated areas in the four quadrants of the inner city and delivered through Area Implementation Teams involving community, statutory and local development representatives, the RAPID programme is designed to target investment to the most acute areas of disadvantage through planning the better co-ordination of services and investment to meet local needs. The programme should facilitate a bottom up identification of needs with a top-down delivery of services through the front loading of budgets available under the National Development Plan.The delivery of the programme involves.
• Operating within existing structures to avoid wasteful duplication of activity and effort
• Complementing the range of initiatives and programmes already in existence
• Involving flexibility to take account of the characteristics of individual RAPID areas Community Technical Aid provides technical support to local disadvantaged communities and projects including carrying out contract development work for statutory, community and partnership organisations.

The services and support CTA provides include:

• Social Research / Evaluation
• Urban Planning
• Training / Project Management

CTA has a specific programme called Technical Support to Struggling Communities which complements area-based local and community development initiatives and enables struggling communities to benefit from rapid urban change. This technical support includes training, facilitation, research, planning and policy work.

• Dublin Inner City Partnership Equity House, 16 Upper Ormond Quay, Dublin 7. Telephone 872 1321
• North Inner City Drugs Task Force 22 Lower Buckingham Street, Dublin 1. Telephone 836 6592
• South Inner City Drugs Task Force Bridge House, Cherry Orchard Hospital, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10. Telephone 620 6488
• Revitalising Areas by Planning, Investment and Development - RAPID Programme
  • RAPID NWIC
  • RAPID SWIC
  • RAPID SEIC
  • RAPID NEIC
• Community Technical Aid Unit 1 & 2, Killarney Court, Buckingham Street, Dublin 1. Telephone 855 7015

ICON is an umbrella organisation which aims to link up voluntary and community groups operating in the north east inner city of Dublin as well as individuals working and living in the area.The main aim of ICON is to co-ordinate and disseminate information, operate as a forum for debate and local policy making as a means of lobbying on issues as they arise within the community. ICON promotes a collaborative 'partnership' between state, non-state, business and community groups in the area.

ICRG is a community development organisation, which aims to ensure that the local community gets tangible benefits from regeneration. ICRG provides services to welfare dependents and the long-term unemployed, people with drug addiction, youth at risk, women living alone and women experiencing abuse and violence. ICRG has been instrumental in the development of a number of successful initiatives such as:

• Saol Project
• Crinan Project
• ICON
• Establishing the IADP, which became the model for the Drugs Task Forces
• TEN - The Employment Network

ICRG shares its premises with the

• Community After Schools Project,
• the Wexford Centre,
• the Violence Against Women Outreach Service and
• the Refugee Information Service.

LYCS is an integrated community-based training, education, recreational and development project, targeting socially and economically excluded individuals and families living in Dublin's north east inner city. LYCS is concerned with giving participants of all ages the opportunity to release their productive and creative talents to become involved in their own development and the development of their community. LYCS operates a number of services in its premises in Rutland Street, including:

• Community Training Workshop
• Youth Programme
• Adult Education Programme
• Childcare Centre LYCS also provides an outreach training and support service for local volunteers interested in running youth activities.

In addition they organise educational, art and recreational activities. The North Wall Women's Centre was founded in 1985 by a group of local women who recognised the need for a safe place where women could share experiences and grow together. The centre aims to redress the problems women experience as a result of social exclusion and bring about social change in order to improve the life of the community.The mission of the centre is to empower women to reach their full potential and participate fully in society by providing appropriate supports and resources in a safe environment. The centre's aims are to:

• Act as a centre of excellence in training and education
• Support women to reach their full potential
• Provide supports, resources and opportunities to help improve the quality of life of the centre's participants
• Maintain an anti-poverty focus
• Actively encourage local participation in the centre
• Develop the capacity of local women into leadership roles within the community
• Enhance the skills of women to access meaningful employment
• Respond to new needs NASCADH is a new Community Development Project operating in the East Wall area of Dublin's inner city.

The strategic vision is that NASCADH is a community-based project which strives to bring together all strands of the community by social inclusion and encouraging integration.The work of Nascadh CDP will be informed by the following values and principles:

• Support the inclusion of all people in the community in the local development process
• Committed to building the capacity and strength of the local community and empowering local people who do not participate at present to play a more active role in East Wall
• Promote the inclusion of disadvantaged and socially excluded groups in the community development and local development process

North East Inner City Quadrant

• INNER CITY ORGANISATIONS NETWORK 22 Lower Buckingham Street, Dublin 1. Telephone 836 6890
• Inner City Renewal Group 57 Amiens Street, Dublin 1 Telephone 855 7207
• Lourdes Youth & Community Services School on Stilts, Rutland Street, Dublin 1 Telephone 836 3416
• North Wall Women’s Centre Lower Sheriff Street, North Wall, Dublin 1 Telephone 836 5399
• NASCADH CDP Telephone 855 0959
• NORTH WEST INNER CITY AREA NETWORK Spade Enterprise Centre, North King Street, Dublin 7 Telephone 617 4847
• MACRO CDP 1 Green Street, Dublin 7 Telephone 873 7000
• An Síol CDP 19 Manor Street, Dublin 7 Telephone 677 5741
• North West Inner City Women’s Network 91 Manor Street, Dublin 7 Telephone 671 7284

NWICAN is a forum of community and voluntary social inclusion groups, which actively seeks to enhance the quality of life for all in the community by campaigning and lobbying to challenge poverty, prejudice and discrimination. NWICAN provides a forum to facilitate a collective and coordinated response to influence policy on issues that affect the community with a clear focus on disadvantage and social exclusion. The key role of the network is to:

• Identify community needs
• Plan an integrated and coordinated response to these needs
• Oversee the implementation of these responses

Established in 1995, MACRO is a Community Development Project operating in the Markets area of Dublin's north west inner city. MACRO facilitates the development of a collective response to the needs of its community and works from the principles of participation, shared decision making, empowerment and change.The aims of MACRO are to:

• Raise community awareness, identify local needs and build a community response in the markets area
• Create a resource to assist the development of groups and individuals in the area
• Create links with local authority, state agencies, local developers and businesses
• Guarantee a coordinated, integrated approach to developments in the Markets area. MACRO aims to achieve this through collaboration with other voluntary, statutory and community organisations.

Established in 1991 An Síol Community Development Programme was set up to address the multidimensional social and economic needs in the Stoneybatter district of Dublin's north west inner city. An Síol's mission is to provide an inclusive community development process and work to redress inequality and power imbalances that cause social and economic exclusion. Key aims of An Síol are to:

• Determine and clarify the current level of need and activity within their area
• Provide developmental support to existing groups and committees within this area
• Facilitate the emergence and development of new groups
• Support the capacity of local people to participate in the decision making which affects the development of their area.

NWICWN aims to provide a forum for women experiencing exclusion to come together to identify issues which affect their lives and plan collaborative responses to them. Many of the activities of the network are aimed at reducing isolation and building confidence and the skills of local women to participate more assertively in the discussions that affect their lives and the lives of their families. In particular, the network will develop coordinated responses to women living on low-incomes, homeless, vulnerable women, immigrants and women experiencing abuse and sexual violence or forced to work in abusive, humiliating or oppressive circumstances.

The South East Area Network (SEAN) formerly the South East Network (SEN) has been going through a process of restructuring and development. The intention is to establish an umbrella organisation for the south east inner city area.The vision of SEAN is to facilitate the working together of local social inclusion organisations and to build a strong, inclusive and vibrant community infrastructure that will work together on common issues to combat poverty and inequality.This will be achieved by fostering co-operation and collaboration within and between the various social inclusion community development and local development groups and statutory agencies. The mission statement of the Ringsend Action Project is to 'seek to create the conditions and mechanisms whereby the people of Ringsend and Irishtown can participate in a planned and strategic way to influence the changes taking place in their community'. The principles of RAP ensures their activities are anti poverty, anti racist, non-sectarian and non-party political. RAP promotes the inclusion of disadvantaged and socially excluded groups and endeavours to address gender equality in all aspects of their work. RAP facilitates greater participation in local and community development decision-making by those traditionally excluded.

RAP also combats inequalities through work on issues such as: housing inequalities, Traveller exclusion, women's inequality, facilitating a community response to drug abuse, combating domestic violence, supporting the inclusion of lone parents, facilitating the development of an area-based strategic plan for the Ringsend and Irishtown district, and supporting greater collaboration and networking between local anti-poverty organisations.

North West Inner City Quadrant South East Inner City Quadrant

• SOUTH EAST AREA NETWORK - SEAN c/o Ringsend Community Centre, Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4.
• Ringsend Action Project - RAP Regal House, 28 Fitzwilliam Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4. Telephone 660 7558
• South West Inner City Quadrant SOUTH WEST INNER CITY NETWORK 48 Hamilton Street, Dublin 8. Telephone 473 2141
• Vista CDP 78B Donore Avenue, Dublin 8 Telephone 454 3074
• SICCDA 90 Meath Street, Dublin 8 Telephone 453 6098
• Robert Emmet CDP St. Audeon’s House, Cook Street, Dublin 8. Telephone 671 8269

SWICN is a forum where social exclusion issues affecting the area are identified from the point of view of the community and joint and collaborative action is planned. All development strategies implemented by the network are informed by the philosophy of community development. SWICN aims to act as a central coordinating body for community-based social inclusion organisations and a means through which the community of the south west inner city can realise its potential to engage in integrated strategic planning and action. The SWICN action plan is about the translation of the concept of 'combating social exclusion' into practical actions with all the inherent implication for policy and practice on the ground.

The Vista Community Development Project was established in 2000. Its purpose is to address issues of exclusion and social disadvantage by bringing together interested parties from the Donore areas of Dublin's south inner city to develop collaborative actions that advance the development of the local community. The strategic aims of Vista are to:

• Support and promote the development of Donore Youth and Community Centre
• Support the development and capacity building of locally-led management committees
• Work with the current residents of Chamber Court and Weaver Court to improve their quality of life
• Improve statutory service provision and the quality of life to older people in the area

The South Inner City Community Development Association was established in 1982. SICCDA emerged when a group of local volunteers came together to tackle the social and economic problems that were affecting their community.

The mission of SICCDA is to create a community in the Liberties area of Dublin where all, particularly those most excluded, are valued and welcomed and can benefit from local development and regeneration initiatives. The aim of SICCDA is to ensure that through community development, the regeneration of the area happens in a manner acceptable and suitably controlled by the people who live there. Key areas of work are targeting primary school children at risk, teenagers at risk, long-term unemployed, and refugees and asylum seekers.

The organisation provides a Job Club, Community Employment Service, community support, and organises a community festival. The Robert Emmet Community Development Project operates in the Oliver Bond and Bridgefoot Street area of Dublin's south west inner city. The Project seeks to empower local people to achieve their full potential by establishing community-based resources. The guiding principles of the RECDP are to:

• Maintain an anti-poverty focus
• Promote the inclusion of disadvantaged and socially excluded groups in the community and community development and local development process
• Promote greater equality in all aspects of activities and in the organisation
• Commit to achieving equality of access, equality of opportunity and equality of outcomes for all residents living within the RECDP catchment area
• Encourage the active participation, involvement and fraternity of local people in discussions and decisions about the development of their communities and the progression of the RECDP

NORTH WEST INNER CITY

• 1,912 lone parent households
• 2,388 people with a disability
• 956 people aged 65+ living alone
• 3,299 people left school at or before
• 15 3,161 semi & unskilled workers
• 4,308 people of foreign nationality
• 2,969 local authority tenants
• 1,824 unemployed & first time job seekers

NORTH EAST INNER CITY

• 1,790 lone parent households
• 2,922 people with a disability
• 964 people aged 65+ living alone
• 4,529 people left school at or before
• 15 5,262 semi & unskilled workers
• 7,799 people of foreign nationality
• 5,906 local authority tenants
• 3,027 unemployed & first time job seekers

SOUTH EAST INNER CITY

• 721 lone parent households
• 1,440 people with a disability
• 602 people aged 65+ living alone
• 2,462 people left school at or before
• 15 2,628 semi & unskilled workers
• 2,255 people of foreign nationality
• 3,056 local authority tenants
• 793 unemployed & first time job seekers

SOUTH WEST INNER CITY

• 993 lone parent households
• 4,096 people with a disability
• 1,274 people aged 65+ living alone
• 4,944 people left school at or before
• 15 5,732 semi & unskilled workers
• 8,283 people of foreign nationality
• 4,872 local authority tenants
• 2,775 unemployed & first time job seekers

Co-ordination and Sharing Opportunities for Inner City Local Development Organisations

There is a history of collaboration and sharing of resources and facilities within the local development sector in the inner city. This results, not only from necessity due to the scarce resources at their disposal, but also from the realisation and willingness on the part of the different organisations that co-operation, collaboration and sharing is an effective means to achieving the goals of combating social exclusion, building greater neighborhood cohesion and providing a better quality of life for the individuals and families that are the essential elements of sustaining community development.

This collaboration and sharing will continue through:

• Joint planning and policy development
• Collaborative education & training programmes
• Increased communication & information links
• Sharing of equipment
• Sharing of premises & office facilities
• Sharing of meeting & conference rooms
• Sharing of community facilities for youth and other activities
• Mentoring expertise & project management capacity
• Sharing of clerical and administration services
• Joint funding initiatives
• Joint publications
• Sharing of technical support
• Development of more cohesive and effective monitoring and evaluation processes
• Collaboration on and dovetailing of social service provision
• Collaborative support to enable community and resident participation
• Sharing of best practice in relation to organisational governance, management and employment issues
• Sharing of utility costs (insurance, accountancy, etc.)

Partnership Agreed Operating Principles

• Any investment or programme supported by the Partnership must have direct benefit for those residents of the inner city who are without work, experiencing poverty or in low income households.
• Our resources and efforts will be targeted at those of greatest need within the inner city and will aim to ensure sustainable benefit to local residents.
• The underlying value of the partnership approach is to achieve equality of treatment, access and opportunity for inner city residents who have experienced exclusion from social and economic local development
• The Partnership will encourage participation by residents in local programmes, organisational structures and activity and will oppose discrimination and compulsion.
• We will provide means for transparency in local decision-making by ensuring accountability in the allocation, use and deployment of resources and funding and by identifying the intended beneficiaries.

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