2,000 march to defend Community education programs

national | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Monday June 08, 2009 23:56 by Paula Geraghty mspgeraghty at yahoo dot ie 0876101340

Siptu and Impact organised a breakthrough demonstration of community development workers and service users. Gardaí reported 2,000 attended.

Community development has always been pulled by both radicalism and conservatism. On the one hand is can be s tool for managing poverty through various schemes that the Celtic Tiger allowed happen and it can offer hope and tools for change to communities to pull itself out of a vicious cycle of poverty, crime and drugs. Now the recession is well and truly here some of the most vulnerable communities who never experienced the economic boom are organising through their unions as workers. As the jobs massacres continues the community sector is facing the brunt of FF/Green Party cuts. Cuts affect communities in poorer areas more as community development was the only safety valve.

It was an impressive and angry march starting from Liberty Hall and ending at the Department of Finance at Merrion Street with chants of 'We want this government OUT!'.

One man I spoke to from Tallaght who's in drug recovery told me that the community education project he was on was keeping him drug free. He said if it was to go he'd be back on the streets using and surviving as that was the one thing he knew how to do. He feared he'd end back in prison, where, he'd spent some of his life.

From the Press release for event:
Already a number of areas have had their budgets reduced:

- Severe reduction for Drug Task Force Projects
- Training and material budgets cut for Community Employment
- Local Partnerships budgets cut up to 16%
- Community Childcare still struggles under the Subvention Scheme
- Overseas Development NGO’s funding slashed
- Community Development Projects funding cut by up to 15%
- Supports for the community and voluntary sector; 32% cut
- Supports for older people are down to €727,000 from €4.3 million

The day of action is open to all union members and non – members in the Community Sector.

Some images from the march, copyright to Paula Geraghty