By Brian Harvey

© The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust 2002

Conclusions

This report, 2001, presents a much changed baseline compared to the first baseline report for the Republic of Ireland programme for the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust in 1993. The following are the principal changes evident:

· Extraordinary economic performance, making Ireland the third richest country in Europe (chapter 1);

· The development of a significant immigrant community for the first time (chapter 1 );

· Social policies which have made Ireland the most unequal society in Europe, diverging ever more from the European social norm (chapter 1);

· A political system notorious for corruption and cronyism (chapter 2);

· A popular reconsideration of Ireland's role in Europe, with the defeat of the Treaty of Nice (chapter 2);

· Standards of human rights far below the internationally acceptable norm, with the second fastest-growing prison population in Europe (chapter 3);

· Recognition by the state of the role of the voluntary and community sector (Supporting voluntary activity) and the bringing of the sector into full social partnership (Programme for prosperity and fairness) (chapter 4);

· Emergence of a voluntary sector working with ethnic minorities, refugees and asylum seekers (chapter 5);

· Marked improvement in state funding for the voluntary and community sector, but with serious shortcomings in funding systems, a convergence in funding patterns and little available for rights and justice work (chapter 6).

Having said that, certain elements of the rights and justice picture in Ireland remain relatively unchanged:

· The need to challenge injustice, infringements of civil liberties, inequality, lack of accountability and the denial of rights (chapters 1-3);

· A voluntary sector that is relatively immature by European standards (chapter 4);

· The small number of organizations working in human rights and citizenship, specifically such areas as political accountability, ideas to sustain the democratic process, the combating of corruption and north -south dialogue (chapter 5);

· Uneven patterns of funding, with some areas of work strongly favoured while others find extreme difficulty in attracting support from government, trust or corporate sources (chapter 6);

· Funding favouring services, once-off projects and self-contained activities, with a lack of long-term commitment, core funding, or support for policy-making work (chapter 6).

These strongly suggest the need for an on-going programme by the trust to support rights and justice work in the Republic of Ireland for the next number of years. In particular they suggest the following orientations for such a future programme. These comments should be read in conjunction with the more extensive final comments of the evaluation report, which also outlined a future agenda for the trust in Ireland.

· Alertness to the needs of the emerging communities in Ireland of refugees and asylum seekers (chapters 1.1, 3.3);

· Support for groups and projects attempting to ensure the successful operation of the Human Rights Commission (chapter 2.2);

· Ensuring that the new north-south institutions are a focus for the engagement of civil society and not just an exchange between political and administrative elites (chapter 2.2);

· Resourcing rights and justice organizations to be effective contributors to a voluntary sector that is now part of social partnership (chapter 4.1);

· Preparedness to strengthen those parts of the rights and justice subsector where organizations and groups are most fragmented, weakest and least organized (chapter 5);

· Consideration of funding think tanks, which in other countries are important stimuli for new democratic ideas (chapter 5.4);

· In addition to leading by example, working with other trusts and funders to persuade them to take a more enlightened approach to the fields of work and activities they fund and the manner in which they construct funding packages (chapter 6).

Racism and work with ethnic minorities (chapter 3.4) is not specifically mentioned in the brief of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust's Irish programme. Granted the emergence of new ethnic minorities in Ireland from the communities of refugees and asylum-seekers, this is something which might be considered for the future. Here the government has taken the lead by offering funding for the projects of awareness against racism, but this initiative has not been matched by many other funders. This report has outlined the importance of resourcing the embryonic voluntary sector in this area and it may also be worth considering a funding strand which tackles racism in imaginative ways. Here, it is worth returning to the Eurobarometer survey quoted earlier. This survey is important for it is an up-to-date, polled opinion after the main group of recent arrivals and displays Irish opinion in a European perspective, often in subtle detail. It suggests that there is a large body of public opinion to be won over to taking a positive view toward the rights and just treatment of minorities - although it did suggest there were some distinct limits too. Positively, Irish people were happy for minorities to be represented by voluntary organizations. It suggested the there was much work to be done in addressing the concepts of multiculturalism, role models of different races working together, explaining the case for legislation and affirmative action, promoting tolerance of those fleeing human rights abuses, confronting negative trends and targeting those groups where negative sentiments are highest (e.g. elderly, less educated, people out of work) and working with those most disposed to tolerance (the younger age groups). This is a crucial stage for the determination of these attitudes in Irish society.

By way of final remarks, the rights and justice situation in Ireland is a challenging one. There are many more potential areas of work and activity than the funding likely to be available to address them. A programme of work in Ireland will require imagination, careful targeting and resourcefulness. Groups already working in the rights and justice area have shown convincingly, in chapter 5, that they have already made a difference.

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