Yesterday was an incredibly moving event as the @artscouncil_ie launched our report and recommendations on the experience of Black artists for discussion and feedback to inform the organization's response to our work. It has been frustrating to hear media reports say our report 'found' high ineligibility rates when in fact we were commissioned to investigate them. Our report focused on the *why*.
What did we find?

Every time someone says "the trans issue" maybe we should ask which one:
- discrimination in standard and specialist healthcare?
- employment discrimination?
- suicide rate?
- safety?
- access to justice?
- manufactured media panics?
Or something else? Because this phrase always suggests that trans people are a problem, instead of our friends, family and neighbours, and holders of human rights equal to all others. That's why it's mostly used by those who want to limit the rights of trans people.

Three years ago, I set up my own research firm specialising in coproduction with people affected by discrimination. Just 9 months later, Covid lockdown shut down many of the community organizations I worked with, some permanently losing premises and staff. It was a big shift, building research with groups who were struggling to manage day-to-day support of marginalised peoples during a pandemic, groups who also needed to document their experiences before and during the pandemic. It stretched all of us.

Great coverage of our last event with Balbriggan Youth Forum visiting Howth.
Find out more Balbrigganintegration.ie
If you know a 15-18 year old who'd like to join, get in touch.
Our next trip will be to Dáil Éireann.
#Youth #representation #engaging Alt text: gif with green and red background, BYF logo and a photo of a newspaper clipping from the Fingal Independent with photos of our trip to howth lifeboat and fishing piers

Tens of millions into religious orders from property sales while redress schemes still to be paid for. And government now drops the independent review to re-examine the written testimony given to the Mother and Baby Homes Commission in light of that report's failures. Why?

https://twitter.com/noteworthy_ie/status/1564028805873688576

500~ survivors gave evidence to the review but the testimony of mothers and ppl born in institutions was not given the same weight as other information. Now the Minister wants survivors retraumatised to tell their stories again in a "new initiative". 🚩
irishexaminer.com/news/arid-4094…

In my speech last night at Fingal Integration Forum about building Inclusive community, I spoke about the need for local community groups to hold public bodies to account, not just in formal mechanisms, but through local engaged and responsive framing of key issues 1. To keep public bodies deeply and keenly engaged with our communities, who they serve
2. Not to wait for consultation on the terms of the public body, but to prompt consultation on the needs of the people

Pleased to attend the Fingal Integration Forum Balbriggan Diversity Awareness Day at Flemington community centre with many good friends and colleagues. Now the @WomanBold calls on us to climb the mountain together!

Coming out of meetings to the news about #ourNMH , now #theirNMH. It's disgraceful. I'm just screengrabbing this for posterity.
Stephen Donnelly: "I would never propose a new Maternity Hospital that had, or could ever have, any religious influence."
How will you know, Minister, how many services are denied?

Senator Eileen Flynn speaking truth to power at @flacireland @INARIreland launch of the new EU funded Equal Access Project - beir bua! #equality Now up Sakshi, Daniel and Siphiwe on behalf of @INARIreland present @INARIreland iReport.ie data to highlight need for the new Equal Access Project.
Sakshi and Siphiwe are members of the iReport.ie Peer Advisory Group.

If you're organising events at work for anti-racism month in March, a few tips...
1. There are lots of online events going on for March - you might think about attending one as a group in your organisation and following it with a zoom/teams discussion in-house. 2. If you are planning a panel, particularly if you are looking for representation from minority communities, I suggest that you offer a speakers fee upfront with your invitations. This is a respectful approach. Too often this burden falls on invited speakers to request it.

Today we launched a new report on race equality in Irish universities, and I'm so grateful to everyone who has shared the report, the key findings, and given their thoughts on steps forward. The report contains key recommendations in 8 areas, and these are all achievable. Before leaving university life in 2019, I spent most of my academic career working on race equality inside universities, in faculty committees, staff networks, and trade unions. It was a privilege for me to be able to co-author this report with my colleague Dr Marta Kempny.

High level of “segregation” reported between full-time staff and staff on precarious contracts, the latter being much more likely to be from minority ethnic groups. New report from @hea_irl on racial inequalities in Irish higher education
irishtimes.com/news/education… New survey data today from @hea_irl
- majority agree “race inequality exists in Irish higher education”
- “critical need” for senior management to take leadership role in improving race equality in higher education
- minority ethnic staff under-represented in senior positions.

New @_IHREC report on Covid emergency powers raises issues of rights and equality for many groups.

https://twitter.com/rtenews/status/1364828544166219776

https://twitter.com/_IHREC/status/1364836278223650816?s=19

Since last summer, there has been a really welcome growth in the number of organisations looking to engage positively with questions around equality, diversity and inclusion. This week I've had a really interesting set of discussions with colleagues of all backgrounds about how we choose the organisations and events we engage with. This is an area where we are all learning constantly, and as the landscape changes (and many things stay the same), having a plan for how to assess your approach with new organisations is crucial.

Academic freedom is designed to protect academic research, teaching and dissemination, even in new and creative ways, but academics are expected to uphold the integrity of academic research in order to benefit from it.

https://twitter.com/EamonnVIDF/status/1357011098751401990

Ireland actually has a solid protection for academic freedom established in legislation, through our Higher Education Act. It's stronger than in much of Europe, and particularly stronger than in the UK. But there are some limits to when academic freedom applies.