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Rights, Freedoms and Repression
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Community Workers Co-Operative Funding Withdrawn national |
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feature
 Monday January 24, 2005 19:10 by Pastor Niemoller
 Government Silences Alternative Voices (Again)
The Community Workers Co-Operative was founded in the early 1980s by a group of community activists supported by academics who were committed to social change, and who saw little evidence of government commitment to tackle poverty and inequality. This writer joined the organisation at a time when Ireland's action against poverty and inequality had been marked by the first Combat Poverty Programme. Older readers will remember how these projects were dotted around Ireland, and how they challenged local and national structures and practices which perpetuated powerlessness. Oh, and how the vested interests howled. When a knitting co-op was formed to assist women in Donegal to sell their products direct to retailers, the discommoded middle-man had the staff of the project threatened with losing their jobs. In Kerry, the local CP project started asking questions about how the local national schools, paid for by local contributions, were being taken over by the church-controlled St. Brendan’s Trust, who were selling them to various scouting and other groups, and keeping the cash for diocesan use. Howls of outrage were expressed by T.D.s and others who denounced the staff as communists, which in 1970s Ireland still managed to inspire fear and dark thoughts in the average person. In Knocknaheeny in Cork, the CP staff wondered aloud if it was right that the local Catholic clergy could impose their will on the local people by building a segregated national school when the majority of parents preferred a mixed school. Newspaper headlines and speeches in the Dáil denounced the project as being radical and a threat to social stability, and there were calls for the project, all projects of its kind, to be shut down. The threats were carried out a little later when the government decided "not to extend the programme", a familiar euphemism for axing an unpopular activity. Fast forward 25 years. The present day version of those projects, albeit a much tamer version, are the Community Development Projects dotted around the country, and the larger single issue national community-of-interest groups such as the One Parent Exchange Network, Pavee Point, Focus Ireland, and others. These organisations operate in a different context, where groups representing the socially excluded have been co-opted into partnership type relationships with state agencies. This co-option took place with the promise of those organisations having an influence on those state policies which they wished to change. In the early days, figures like Proinsias de Rossa and, believe it or not, Michael Woods of Fianna Fail, supported the principle of communities representing their issues, and receiving state support to buy in the technical expertise to do so. In the years 1989 to 2002 the community and voluntary sector exploded with activity of a type not previously known in this country as the Community Development Programme was established. Many of the community activists who led campaigns in their own communities from the 60s to the 80s found employment in the Programme. The establishment of the Maynooth youth and community development courses afforded many of these working class activists to gain the skills needed to work in the professional roles. These formed the back bone of the Programme, which was supported nationally by the Combat Poverty Agency. As the CDPs grew in number and size, several projects developed their work around specific issues, and got closer to the ideal of real partnership with the relevant government agencies and local authorities. Issues such as housing, disability, literacy, unemployment, racism, sexism, Traveller rights, xenophobia and others were taken up within the local communities as well as nationally, with the CDPs facilitating actions that were decided locally. These projects were a breath of fresh air at a time when you could get nothing without going through a T.D. Now suddenly you could walk into a local community resource centre and become involved in groups who were able to empower you with information, skills, and collective action. The development of the CDP was supported hugely by the Community Workers Co-operative, who kept their eye on the broader issues of social justice, and who managed to anchor project staff and management members in the reality of a country which remained socially and economically deeply divided. The magazine produced by the Co-Op carried articles which did not pull back from hard hitting messages and analysis. Now it seems, the CWC is no longer going to be given the government resources to continue its work. Between them, Eamonn O Cuiv at (091)562846 and Noel Ahern at (01) 8882581 have apparently decided that the CWC is too hot to handle. In spite of a very positive evaluation study carried out just weeks ago by the government department itself, they have been told that their funding has been withdrawn. It is reminiscent of the shameful treatment of the Citizen Traveller campaign, who had their funding cut by an irate Minister McDowell, who did not like the direct tone of their message about the injustice of the anti-trespass legislation. He used the excuses that the Citizen Traveller Campaign should not have used the image of the Irish flag in their advertising campaign, and that the campaign should not have called the Irish government racist for adopting the law. In the case of the CWC, however, the department apparently has not thought of an excuse yet! It is important that the Taoiseach at (01) 8374129 and the two ministers whose numbers are above, hear from people who object to the withdrawal of funding. Whatever area of social justice work you are involved in, whether funded or not, you must recognise the agenda of this government who have etched even further into a right wing position by cutting this funding. What will go next?
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Funding for the Community Workers Co-Operative (CWC) has been withdrawn. In a brazen and cynical move by Ministers Eamonmn O Cuiv and Noel Ahern, the coalition government have moved into an even more extreme right wing position by silencing this alternative voice which has distinguished itself with its 
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Comments (21 of 21)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21Well written and practical too, the phone numbers are a nice touch. Now, where’s my mobile?
Not an expert on the Co-op but I have always been confused about the dividing line between promoting social justice and airing your own particular political views. And if there is no dividing line, should the State be paying?
There is a dividing line.... The CWC do not support any political party. Their interest lies in supporting people to engage with political and non-political processes that will impact on their lives. The organisation are not anti FF and PD's but they are outspoken when government decisions ignore or make worse the situation of those living in poverty or experiencing discrimination.
The big problem here is that the goverment are cutting of the head of anybody who sticks their head above the parapet........
http://www.pobail.ie/en/PressReleases/d7943.en.v2.0.t4.html
Did anybody else notice that some organisations don't seem to have any problems in getting government funding.
The Wheel and Cori seem to have profited from the recent reshuffling of money to community groups...........organisations that don't seem to represent anybody - from what i know.
And don't CORI owe the state money????? it's like a reverse robin hood - taking from the poor and giving to the rich....
I am outraged by the decision to axe the tiny funding which is given by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to the CWC, I have seen first hand the dedication and professionalism of the management and staff of the group. The decision by Minister Eamonn O Cuív to withdraw the funding is an attempt to bully the community sector into silence over the extremes of powerlessness and inequality of voiceless people in Ireland, the courage and discipline of the management and staff of the CWC to report poverty and inequality issues is surely the motivation of the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to withdraw their funding. The CWC facilitated the development of a generation of talented and committed individuals, who were responsible for a large quantity of original written works analysing the way to deal with Irish unemployment which was in crisis at the time, the growth of racism, and many other works on which so many of our present day government policies are now based. The Co-Op developed its work and its structures to facilitate community groups to enter partnership arrangements as proposed by the Programme for Economic and Social Progress (PESP) in the early 1990s. The success of the Partnership Companies was due in no small way to the excellent ground work carried out by the Co-Op in educating and encouraging community workers about the potential for social change which partnership relationships could bring about. The withdrawal of their funding comes after the Community Platform refused to endorse the SUSTAINING PROGRESS National Agreement, the CWC co-ordinates the Community Platform, a coalition of 25 national anti-poverty organisations. I think the withdrawal of the funding is a cynical exercise designed to punish the group for the international embarrassment suffered by the government caused by the non-endorsement of the National Agreement by anti-poverty organisations. Today, Tánaiste Mary Harney said that "Nobody is safe", referring to the risk that tax dodgers face of going to prison after Ray Burke's custodial sentence was handed down. Now that the CWC funding has been withdrawn, it seems that nobody who works in an anti-poverty role is safe from the harsh right wing regime in government today.
Reading an article today in Heartattack zine (sourced from Red Ink Books) which led me to this.
"Suppressing the knowledge produced by any oppressed group makes it easier for dominant groups to rule because the seeming absence of an independent consciousness in the oppressed can be taken to mean that subordinated groups willingly collaborate in their own victimization," Collins explains. The image of the welfare mother is one of a powerless, irresponsible woman who not only willingly collaborates in her own victimization but has produced a culture of poverty based on that victimization. Subjugated knowledge is information, ideas, and history that has been buried, obscured or invalidated by discourses that serve power and privilege. The images of welfare mothers occupy the public debate not the history of how welfare developed or how race and gender have historically discriminated and kept Black women down. Reclaiming subjugated knowledge is one of the key practices of Black feminist thought as Collins outlines it and of radical political analysis that I employ throughout this essay. These political projects aim to not only recover lost history of Black women and other oppressed groups but also to reconceptualize history through an interconnected analysis or race, class and gender. This paper aims to reconceptualize welfare, welfare reform and images of welfare mothers so that welfare recipients can continue to move from being objects in this debate to become subjects shaping this debate. Welfare rights activists who are not also recipients can aid in this project by shifting the center of our analysis so that welfare recipients, their knowledge claims and their strategies inform and guide our work.
http://colours.mahost.org/articles/crass6.html
"Colours" sound like an interesting group.
"recognising and respecting people's agency rather than always seeing them as helpless victims...
"Colours of Resistance first emerged in North America as a response to our growing feeling of a gap between what has been labelled as the 'anti-globalization' movement in the 'West' and the day-to-day organizing efforts in communities of colour to resist the impacts of global capitalism.
We share a common critique of the lack of power/privilege analysis among predominantly white and middle-class anti-summit protests in the 'West' and are building a network of people who understand anti-oppression work as integral to any progressive movement building."
"withdrawal of their funding comes after the Community Platform refused to endorse the SUSTAINING PROGRESS National Agreement"
it doens't say this in the original piece but is this what it comes down to( well nothing ever that simple)
The Labour Party Spokesperson on Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Brian
O'Shea, has strongly criticised the decision of the Minister for Community,
Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to withdraw funding from the Community Workers
Co-operative (CWC).
"For almost 25 years the CWC has been playing a vital role in providing an
independent, but expert, assessment of government policies on poverty and
equality issues. It is widely respected by professionals working in the area as
the comments, for instance, of the Director of the Combat Poverty Agency, Helen
Johnston, demonstrate.
"As an independent voice they have been critical of the policies of governments
of different political hues over 24 years. At a time when a new EU report has
shown that almost a quarter of the Irish people are still at risk of poverty, it
is very important that public policy in this area should be subjected to
independent scrutiny and assessment..
"Indeed at a time of overflowing exchequer coffers there is no justification for
such a cut in funding.
"I am aware that there is widespread concern in the community and voluntary
sector that the CWC may have been penalised by the government because of its
critical stance on the most recent national agreement, Sustaining Progress. This
concern is increased because other organisations that supported Sustaining
Progress have, for the first time, received funding from Minister O'Cuiv's
Department. I hope that this is not the case.
"I would appeal to Minister O'Cuiv and to the Taoiseach to review this decision
and to restore the modest funding necessary to allow the CWC to continue with
its important work."
Looking at the govt site
http://www.pobail.ie/en/PressReleases/d7943.en.v2.0.t4.html
they've given
http://www.wheel.ie
€250,000
who
"offer support, advocacy and leadership for Community and Voluntary activity across Ireland."
(from what I can make out, only since 2003.)
Do wheel fill the same role as CWC?
With the difference being that they
still endorse the govts partnership idea?
My business background keeps me out of the loop of social affairs. But a local voluntary unfunded disability organisation is having a fit over the plug being pulled from the co-op. What I hear from them, the co-op is the real deal when it comes to calling the governments bluff on a range of matters affecting them. They came out publicly against the national agreement, and now they think that their first ever application for government funding will be refused.
Even for Fianna Fail, this cut in funding to the CWC is a howler. I can imagine them in a steamy circle sitting in the jacuzzi at Inchydoney a few months back, grinning at the prospect of gullible fools falling for their their lies about their care for the poor.
And who is The Wheel? 11 years in community development work, and I never heard of them. The CWC is the glue that holds the community and voluntary sector together. I predict that O cuiv will feel so much egg gathering on his face that he will do a U turn on this. Useless toad!
In response to Newsforthedeaf's comments about the wheel -
"Do wheel fill the same role as CWC?
With the difference being that they
still endorse the govts partnership idea?"
The Wheel are participating in social partnership and yes they think that SUstaining Progress is a "good deal" - the CWC don't believe that and have been very critical of the deal
The Wheel are a very new organisation - and while that's not a bad thing in itself they have no experience in this work and they do not have the support of grassroots groups working against poverty.
The CWC are directly working on poverty issues - the Wheel have said publicly that they don't work on poverty and social inclusion.
Finally there's a perception out there that the Wheel have a very confortable unquestioning relationship with the government and the CWC are independant.
They're just a few differences - I'm sure other can think of more.
The link posted above shows grants by O Cuiv's office. The €250,000 is given to The Wheel, among other things, for "promotion of coalition-building in the community and voluntary sector". What did O Cuiv and Co. Teoranta imagine the CWC does? It does look like O Cuiv wants to consult with the community and voluntary sector, but only if they come up with the right message. I hate conspiracy theory. But this looks like a no-brainer. It seems like a tawdry case of shooting the messenger. This is a Mickey Mouse government.
what annoys me most about this is that EOC just passes the buck! i wrote to him and all i get back is that it is his minister of state who made the decision. hello? is EOC minister or not? is he too scared to come out publicly himself? jeezes - he probably doesn't even know how to spell accountability much less know what it is ...
If CWC are such a community based organisation why are they looking for funding from the Government? Surely accepting funding involves compromise, whether aware or unaware. What generally starts out as radical usually gets compromised by depending on support from the state. Just look at ICON and all their other fronts in Dublin. Area still fucked but loads of jobs for the boys and girls. The poverty industry continues……
And if genuine, does the left seriously believe that the state will continue to finance their critics? Gosh, that sounds like a democracy!!!!
Naive or bought?
Beware the 'man'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://acovo.org/publications_goodpracticeguides.asp
have been crossing the border
to lecture in Monaghan
the wheel
with a load of
"leading edge concepts of venture philanthropy, commercial ventures and venture capital for charities and non-profit organisations. The guide demonstrates how the reader can develop saleable ‘products’ and provides tips on how best to approach those in the corporate sector for funding these products, while remaining true to the core values and mission of the organisation.
‘’As a result of embarking on this change to venture philanthropy and business development, charity trustees, staff and other stakeholders will experience innovation, discovery and adventure.’’
As a result of not embarking on this change... CWC will experience innovative fund cutting.
Just not 'radical' enough
for business authorities.
Who exactly are these "communities"? How do I join/form one?
Full support to the CWC. The funding must be restored.
This chop, and the previous cuts to local "partnerships'" funding, show ironically the reality of social partnership. Not to mention the, only partly restored, Savage Sixteen welfare cuts.
Just as there is no partnership between the employers and workers, there is no partnership between the state, big business and the 'communities'.
Sinn Féin calls for funding of Community Worker's Co-Op
8 February, 2005
http://www.sinnfein.ie/news/detail/8421
Sinn Féin Dublin Spokesperson on Economic Development, Councillor Daithí Doolan, has today, "welcomed Dublin City Council's call to Minister Noel Ahern to continue funding the Community Worker's Co-Op".
cant find it , for what its worth
just got a note about a petition (http://www.petitiononline.com/hv66/petition.html) that is slowly but surely making the rounds - looking for bertie to intervene and support the cwc ... so might be a good way of showing support