Catherine Heaney, one of the founding Directors of DHR Communications, has taken over the company as Managing Director.  Catherine – who has 20 years’ experience in public relations, public affairs and politics – will now focus primarily on business development and the provision of high-level strategic communications advice to clients. 

Expanded Team

Joining our team is Leinster House veteran Tony Heffernan, who – in recent months – served as Campaign Manager for Michael D. Higgins’ successful presidential election campaign.  Tony is one of the most experienced political communicators in Ireland, having worked in the Oireachtas for almost 30 years.  He served as Assistant Government Press Secretary with the Rainbow Coalition Government from 1994 to 1997, and was Press and Parliamentary Director for the Labour Party for the past 11 years, working closely with three Labour Party Leaders over that time: Eamon Gilmore, Pat Rabbitte and Ruairí Quinn.  At DHR Communications, Tony will be responsible for advising clients on public relations and public affairs strategies.

We have also appointed Martina Quinn as an Account Director.  Martina has worked with the firm for almost five years, delivering PR services across a range of client accounts.  She has particular expertise in social media campaigns and project management, and has played a lead role in managing major initiatives and events for clients such as ESB International, Irish Aid, Trócaire, the South-East Regional Authority and drinkaware.ie.  Prior to joining DHR Communications, Martina worked at Fine Gael National Headquarters and with AONTAS, the national adult learning organisation.

Other changes at DHR Communications include the promotion of Lydia Ishak to Senior Account Executive and the recruitment of Emily Kelly, also in the role of Senior Account Executive.  Lydia has worked with us for three years, while Emily joins the team from 98FM, where she served as a reporter and news-reader.

Our staff team is now comprised of seven communications professionals.  Our company is chaired by former ICTU General Secretary and incoming Executive Director of the Kennedy Centre for Conflict Intervention at NUI Maynooth, Peter Cassells.  Peter will continue to advise on key client accounts at DHR Communications.

New Business Wins

In the past two months, DHR Communications has successfully tendered to provide PR, public affairs and consultation management services to a number of high-profile public sector agencies, including the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, Irish Aid and Skillnets.  Other new business wins include contracts with Young Social Innovators, the Immigrant Council of Ireland, Philip Lee Solicitors, City & Guilds and St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

2FM's Ruth Scott & Joey Lynch from The Hot Sprockets try their hand at bashing a pinata at the launch of the 'Thanks, from Trócaire' gig.

The gig is taking place at The Grand Social, 35 Lower Liffey Street, Dublin 1 this coming Thursday, 23rd June, from 7pm ’til late.  Alternative / electronic quartet  CODES will headline the event, where they will be joined by blues-rockers The Hot Sprockets and rising Irish five-piece Storyfold.  Tig Linn – a collective with members from Kíla, Discovery Gospel Choir and the Afro-Irish music group De Jimbé – will open the gig, while acoustic performances by a variety of acts will take place throughout the venue over the course of the night.  2FM’s Ruth Scott will be the special guest MC for the night, and the gig will close with a DJ set by internationally acclaimed DJ iZem.

To add a Central American flavour to proceedings, Latino guitarists will be on hand, while Honduran-inspired snacks will be cooked to order in the outdoor beer garden.  Games and crafts from Central America will also be on show.

Tickets for this gig – costing only €5 – will be available on the door on the night.  However, DHR Communications has some pairs of tickets to give away over the coming days.  To be in with a chance to win a pair of tickets, just email your contact details to trocaire@dhr.ie before 9am on Thursday (23rd June).  We’ll announce the winners on Thursday morning.  In the meantime, you can find out more about the gig – and about Trócaire’s work in Central America – at: www.trocaire.org.

Bruno Palma - one of the winners in last year's 'Best in Show' - helps launch the call for entries to the 2011 competition

In addition to our work with The Digital Hub, we also managed a major research launch for CARDI – the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland – recently.  This focused on the over-prescription of medicine to elderly patients in residential care settings, and attracted wide-ranging media coverage, including this editorial in The Irish Times.

Active Retirement Ireland (ARI), meanwhile, has also been keeping us busy: last week, we worked on a media strategy for the organisation aimed at publicising the impact of re-introducing passport fees for over-65s, and we also attended the ARI AGM in Killarney, which was widely covered in print and broadcast media.  It focused on the importance for men of keeping active after they retire, and Dr. Martin McAleese delivered a keynote address on this theme at the event.

Yesterday, we had the official launch of the www.energyinnovation.ie blog.  We have worked with ESB International for the past four months on developing this blog, which focuses on key trends and developments in the energy sectors in Ireland and abroad.  Today, we’re working with the Irish Council for Civil Liberties – and a coalition of 17 leading non-governmental organisations – on the launch of the ‘Your Rights. Right Now‘ report on Ireland’s human rights record.  The report was launched this afternoon by Minister of State Kathleen Lynch TD; later tonight, a political briefing event for TDs and members of the diplomatic corps will take place.

Other projects on which we’ve recently worked include the continuation of our leadership training programme for the New Communities Partnership; stakeholder and political briefing events on MIPEX, on behalf of the British Council (Ireland) and the Immigrant Council of Ireland; the launch of the current funding round for the Simon Cumbers Media Fund; and the conclusion of the programme of events we devised to mark the 30th anniversary of Ballymun Youth Action Project.

ESBI bloggers pictured at the launch of www.energyinnovation.ie yesterday

So that’s a quick round-up of our work over the past month.  For more information on what we do on a day-to-day basis, check out our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter.

For the past few months, we’ve been working with Ballymun Youth Action Project (BYAP) to plan and deliver a programme of events to mark its 30th anniversary.  The Project was Ireland’s first ever community-based response to drugs: it was founded in 1981, after three young people died from drugs-related causes in Ballymun.  To mark the 30th anniversary, we’ve been working with BYAP on events that are running now, throughout the month of March.

Artist and stand-up comedian Dean Scurry pictured at the launch of the programme of events marking the 30th anniversary of Ballymun Youth Action Project

Last week saw the official opening of the programme of events, with a visit to BYAP by President Mary McAleese; the launch of a ‘BYAP 30 Years’ art exhibition curated by acclaimed artists Guggi and John Duffy; the planting of a commemorative rose-bush; and the unveiling of a major public art project, developed in collaboration with axis Ballymun.  Next week will see a national conference on substance misuse in Dublin Castle, and a community festival at the plaza in Ballymun, featuring a headline performance by Christy Dignam and Joe Jewell from Aslan, along with a whole host of performances by local acts.  All of the BYAP 30th anniversary events are open to the public, free of charge.  For further information, click here.

In addition to our work with BYAP, we’ve been busy with ESB International recently: in the past few weeks, ESBI’s new corporate blog – www.energyinnovation.ie – went live.  DHR Communications oversaw the planning and development of the blog, and advised ESBI on content planning.  Members of ESBI’s senior management team are the bloggers for this venture, sharing their insights and expertise on a broad range of topics relating to the energy sectors in Ireland and abroad.  So we’d advise anyone with an interest in energy to check it out and subscribe for regular updates!

We’ve also been travelling the length and breadth of the country in the past few weeks, visiting colleges and meeting students from all over Ireland as part of an information roadshow for the ‘Generation Next’ entrepreneurship competition.  We’re working with the South-East Regional Authority on developing and promoting the competition, which we launched last month with a little help from ‘Dragon’s Den’ star – and leading entrepreneur – Sean Gallagher.

Sean Gallagher pictured with some of Ireland's future entrepreneurs at the launch of 'Generation Next'

And, of course, in the middle of all this work, a general election took place!  In the lead-up to this, we advised the Family Resource Centre National Forum on a pre-election initiative that resulted in over 200 candidates signing a pledge to maintain support for the FRC programme.  We also provided event management services to Trócaire and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul for a hustings event, addressed by representatives of all major political parties.  And we worked with the Immigrant Council of Ireland on the launch of ‘Count Us In’, a campaign aimed at highlighting the voting power of new Irish citizens.

Representatives from the Immigrant Council of Ireland pose outside the gates of Leinster House at the launch of the 'Count Us In' campaign

ESBI is an international energy company and one of Europe’s leading engineering and consultancy organisations.  Over the coming months, we’re working with ESBI and Connector.ie to develop the company’s first ever blog.  The blog will feature weekly entries from senior managers at ESBI, with a strong focus on energy innovation.  Topics covered will encompass ocean energy, carbon issues, energy management, ESBI’s work internationally, engineering as a career, and lots more.  The blog is expected to go live in spring 2011 – we’ll be posting further info here over the coming weeks.

We’re also working with the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) at the moment, on a campaign – ‘Your Rights.  Right Now’ – aimed at raising awareness about Ireland’s Universal Periodic Review process. In October 2011, Ireland will be examined for the first time by other United Nations (UN) countries on our human rights record, in a process called the Universal Periodic Review or UPR.  The UPR can be used to highlight gaps in human rights protection within Ireland.

The ICCL is working with almost 20 other NGOs on the ‘Your Rights. Right Now’ campaign.  The aim is to inform the general public and civil society organisations about the UPR process, and to encourage people to learn about their human rights and possibly to get involved in the UPR.  A key part of the campaign is getting people thinking about their human rights – and making human rights relevant to everyone in Ireland.

You can follow ‘Your Rights.  Right Now’ on Facebook and Twitter, and the campaign will be officially launched next week, when details of public information events throughout Ireland will also be announced.

We were delighted to start 2011 on a positive note by winning a tender to work with the South-East Regional Authority (SERA) on a competition for third-level students, aimed at fostering entrepreneurship within the Irish education system.

The competition is being organised as part of the YES (Youth Entrepreneurship Strategies) Project, which is part-funded by the EU’s INTERREG IVC.   The YES Project involves partners from eight regions within different EU States, with Ireland represented by SERA.  The overall aim of the project is to increase the number of entrepreneurs in Europe and accelerate European competitiveness.  The competition for third-level students will be one element of Ireland’s involvement in the YES Project, and we will be posting further details on the competition here over the coming months.

In other news, January and February look set to be very busy for DHR Communications.  As well as our work with SERA, we will be working with CARDI on the launch of research on end-of-life care standards; we’re assisting the Dignity Project in the organisation of a major conference on sex trafficking in Ireland, which will take place next month; and we will be delivering training in media and political communications skills to a number of different groups.  We will also be continuing our work on The Digital Hub‘s DARE2BDRINKAWARE.ie competition and the WebActivate Programme, and we are project managing the week-long programme of events planned to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Ballymun Youth Action Project in March.  So busy times ahead!

1. Best One-Day Festival.
2. Best Line-Up.
3. Family Festival Award.
4. Social Responsibility Award.
5. Best Service Award.
6. Best Toilets.

DHR Communications has project managed Irish Aid’s flagship Africa Day events for the past three years, and we were responsible for both the Dublin and Limerick events, which took place in May of this year (a case study of our work on Africa Day for the past three years is available here).

Visitors to Irish Aid's Africa Day Dublin on Sunday, 16th May in the Iveagh Gardens. Photo: Maxwells.

If you were at these events and enjoyed them – or heard good things about them from other people – please vote for them in the categories listed above.  To vote, all you have to do is click here.   Thank you!

Monday was the busiest, with three events. First was the launch of a new publication by the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (CARDI). The publication, ‘A Picture of Ageing Research’, outlined – for the first time ever – a major collaborative ageing research projects underway on the island of Ireland.

LBGT Diversity – also on Monday – hosted a national conference to look at ways of advancing equality and inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. The conference, titled Foundations, was organised to provide a platform for sharing expertise and experiences, both from within LGBT communities and with other stakeholders, in order to build a sustainable sector.

In Blanchardstown, Mountview Family Resource Centre launched a new family support and counselling service. Minister Pat Carey TD officiated the event.

Besides this, Threshold has received a high number of calls from tenants on problems caused by the cold snap. Bob Jordan, Director of Threshold was interviewed by a few radio stations in the country, including Sunshine FM this morning. You can listen to his interview here.

Something to look forward to next week; the international film festival ‘Moving Worlds: Cinemas of Migration’ will start on Wednesday, 8th December until Saturday, 11th December at the Irish Film Institute. There will also be a selection of workshops and masterclasses. The festival is a collaboration between the British Council and a few other organisations. For full details and booking information, click here.

CARDI is a not-for-profit organisation, developed by leaders from the ageing field across Ireland (North and South) – including age-focused researchers, academics, and statutory, voluntary and community sector representatives – with support from Atlantic Philanthropies.  The aim of CARDI is to promote greater collaboration amongst age researchers; ensure wider dissemination of ageing research information; and advance a research agenda relevant to the needs of older people throughout the island of Ireland.  DHR Communications will be working with CARDI over the coming months on its public relations and public affairs outputs.

Ballymun Youth Action Project, meanwhile, is a community-based response to substance abuse: it was founded in 1981 in response to the growing problem of substance abuse in Ballymun in North Dublin, and with the aim of developing and coordinating community alternatives to drug-taking and alcohol abuse.  The Project is now firmly established in the local area, and offers a range of services, including counselling, education and training, a drop-in service, and educational outreach activities.  DHR Communications is working with the Project to plan and implement a programme of events to mark the 30th anniversary of its founding in 2011.  We will keep you updated here with plans for the celebratory events!

Former Ireland International, Curtis Fleming, was interviewed this morning on Sunshine FM radio station on the launch of FARE Week. At the launch, he was joined by a Niall Blaney TD and Michael D’Arcy TD and a number of schoolchildren from Our Lady of Lourdes school in Inchicore.

You can listen to the interview on Sunshine FM here: Interview with Curtis Fleming