Promotion European citizenship in Ireland

27 february 2009

In preparation for the June E.U. and Local Government Elections the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice is busy travelling to different parts of Ireland to facilitate Training Trainer workshops. To date greater interest has been shown in the Local Government Elections because of the large number of foreign nationals who are entitled to vote in the Local Elections. The renewed attention on the Lisbon Treaty has drawn attention to the whole issue of European Citizenship.

The vision of the founders of the E.U. is one which resonates with the general population. It is the mechanics of E.U. Governance which seems to distance the E.U. from the ordinary citizen. Five years ago our Government established a TASK FORCE to develop recommendations for the advancement of citizenship in Ireland. The Task Force which consisted of representatives of community organisations, academics and political parties committed to the promotion of active citizenship made a number of recommendations to Government which included the setting up of an Electoral Commission, an annual Citizenship Week and the funding of active citizenship education programmes which would focus on young people and on members of disadvantaged communities. A Steering Group was established in 2008 to monitor the implementations of the recommendations of the Task Force. The Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice was appointed by the Government to both the Task Force and the Steering Group. This gives us an important opportunity to contribute to the ongoing promotion of all aspects of citizenship in Ireland.