DHR Communications

We’ve been quite busy for the pass few days with a number of client events. The Model recently played host to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Sport, Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs and local politicians in the North West Region.

The Model also announced their Summer/Autumn programme. Highlights of the programme include a film on the DeLorean car, an exhibit by Jack B. Yates titled the Living Ginger and a concert by BellX1.

We assisted Money Point in their press announcement on why Ireland must do more to protect the general public from counterfeit notes. As a result we received coverage in both radio and print media. The story is online on the Irish Independent website.

We also assisted LGBT Diversity at their launch and received coverage in number of media. One such coverage is a story in the Irish Examiner.

Finally, Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore TD played a visit to the Digital Hub to view the WebActive programme and meet with some companies located in the hub.

As mentioned a couple of weeks back, we were delighted to be chosen by the New Communities Partnership (NCP) to deliver a training programme for representatives of NCP member organisations, aimed at building their capacity in media and political advocacy skills. Full details of this training programme – entitled the ‘Leadership Programme for Community Leaders’ – have now been announced by the NCP.

Sponsored by the Community Foundation for Ireland, the programme is designed to foster, promote, and enhance ethnic minority involvement in local, regional and national policymaking fora in Dublin, Limerick and Cork.  It will will provide training and mentoring to leaders of ethnic minority communities in Dublin, Limerick and Cork on influencing policy and social agendas.

Commenting on the programme, Issah Huseini, CEO of the New Communities Partnership, said: “The immigrant civil society are aware that they need to produce effective leaders in order to exert real influence in decision making processes in public life in Ireland.  To achieve genuine and meaningful participation and representation in political arenas and not just ‘tokenistic’ representation, we need to provide leaders who can understand the mechanics of influencing policy and social agendas in an Irish context.”

The NCP is currently recruiting emerging, experienced, and advanced leaders from its network of over 106 members groups nationwide to participate in the training programme.  At the end of the programme, participants will have acquired the skills and virtues they need to engage with the State, as well as other institutions in Irish society, and will be ready to work closely with Strategic/Joint Policy Committees in local authorities, statutory agencies, local government structures and other civil society fora.

Further details on the training programme are available here.

We’re delighted to announce we’ve been contracted by the New Communities Partnership (NCP) to deliver a capacity-building and training programme for regional representatives of the Partnership over the coming months.  Our work will focus on equipping local members of the NCP with media and political advocacy skills, with a view to strengthening the voice of new communities at all levels of Irish life.

We’re also currently working with the Family Resource Centre National Forum (FRCNF) and the Family Support Agency (FSA) on the launch of a statistical report on the organisations’ work during 2009.  This launch will take place in Dublin next Wednesday, 7th July, and will be followed by a political briefing event where representatives of Family Resource Centres from all over Ireland will meet their local TDs and Senators to fill them in on the statistical information of relevance to their area.

Finally, we’re in the process of putting together our training programme for autumn 2010: during September and October, DHR Communications will be offering great value training sessions in media skills and political advocacy, specifically focused at the not-for-profit and statutory sectors.  Full details of our training programme will be announced over the coming weeks, so check back often for further updates or email info@dhr.ie to find out more!

We’ve had a number of client events in recent weeks, including yesterday’s launch of the 2009 Annual Report of the Dublin Well Woman Centres, which has been receiving high levels of media coverage for the past few days (to see a report of the launch on yesterday’s lunchtime news on RTÉ 1 Television, click here).

Last week, we organised a conference on ‘How People Live Their Lives in an Intercultural Society’ on behalf of the Irish Committee of the European Cultural Foundation (ECF), at which President Mary McAleese delivered the keynote address.  A report was launched at the event, documenting the outcomes and recommendations arising from a two-year-long project, facilitated by DHR Communications, whereby the ECF brought together a cross-section of people – from different cultural backgrounds and living in six different parts of the country – to discuss their experiences of interculturalism.

We’ve also been busy processing the applications for the Comhar Sustainable Development Media Fund over the past couple of weeks.  Thirty-one applications were received in total, from journalists and organisations interested in carrying out projects aimed at increasing awareness of sustainability issues.  The judging meeting for the Fund will take place over the coming weeks, and all applicants will be notified of the outcomes before the end of July.

Finally, the overall winner of The Digital Hub’s Best in Show competition was announced last week: congratulations to the team of DCU graduates that won the top prize of €1,000, as well as work placements with Red Diamond Media.  Full details of the winning team and the competition overall – which is targeted at up-and-coming digital media creatives – are available here.

A limited number of places are still available for a free conference exploring the themes of integration and interculturalism, which DHR Communications is project managing next week.

The conference will take place next Wednesday, 23rd June, from 9am to 2pm in the Lecture Theatre at the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin Castle, Dublin 2. The conference is being hosted by the European Cultural Foundation (Irish Committee).

Since 2008, the European Cultural Foundation has brought together almost 100 people in eight conversations around Ireland to document how people deal with profound change as they settle in a new country, and their daily experiences in relation to integration.  Next week’s conference will mark the publication of a report on these conversations, entitled ‘How People Live their Lives in an Intercultural Society’.

Anybody with an interest in integration or intercultural issues is welcome to attend this conference. To register your attendance, or for further information, please email: info@dhr.ie or telephone DHR Communications on: 01-4885808.

Video footage from Irish Aid’s Africa Day Dublin event is now available to view here:

DHR Communications project managed Africa Day Dublin this year, along with Africa Day Limerick, Irish Aid’s second flagship Africa Day event.

A special thanks to our volunteer film-maker Manu Di Marco for recording and editing this footage from the Africa Day Dublin event.  The event took place in the Iveagh Gardens in Dublin City Centre on Sunday, 16th May 2010, and was attended by 12,000 people.

Further information on Irish Aid’s annual Africa Day events is available at www.africaday.ie.

A big welcome to two new interns at DHR Communications: Lynn Ennis and Brittany Little.

Lynn began working with our team in April 2010, providing support for our work on Irish Aid’s Africa Day events and helping with various other client accounts.  Brittany, meanwhile, joins us this week all the way from New York.  Having just completed a Bachelors of Science degree at Saint Joseph’s College in Long Island, she will work with DHR Communications over the summer months to gain experience in public relations.

There’s been lots going on in DHR Communications for the past couple of months.  We’ve been really busy working with Irish Aid, the Government’s programme for overseas development, on its flagship Africa Day events: Africa Day Dublin, which took place in the Iveagh Gardens on Sunday, 16th May, and Africa Day Limerick, which took place in the grounds of Limerick City Hall on Sunday, 30th May.  Both events were a great success.  Once again, a huge thank you to all the volunteers who got involved in these events; to all the organisations and community groups that participated, and to all members of the public who came along.

In addition to Africa Day, we’ve also had lots of work to do on the Simon Cumbers Media Fund.  The deadline for the summer 2010 round of funding was Friday, 7th May, and 59 applications were received in total.  These are currently with the judging panel and the judges’ decisions will be announced shortly.

We’re also working on the Comhar Sustainable Development Media Fund, and there’s still time for interested applicants to apply: the deadline for this year’s funding round is Friday, 18th June, at 5pm.  Along with representatives of Comhar Sustainable Development Council, DHR facilitated a workshop for potential applicants last week.  A list of FAQs from that workshop can be accessed here.

Yesterday, we had the launch of the 2009 annual report of the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces, which received high levels of coverage across RTÉ and other broadcast outlets, and is featured in the national dailies today.  We’re also currently working with The Digital Hub on its annual Best in Show competition, and we’ve been doing some work with the British Council (Ireland) on its OPENCities project.

And, finally, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve recently been contracted to work withthe Building LGBT Communities Programme, which was established to build capacity among existing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organisations at a regional level.

We have been out of touch for the last few weeks because we have been busy working on Irish Aid’s Africa Day celebrations. On Sunday, May 16th, Irish Aid’s Africa Day Dublin took place in the Iveagh Gardens, Dublin 2. More than 10,000 people attended this event and sampled African food, music, games and art activities. We are now busy getting ready for Irish Aid’s Africa Day Limerick which is taking place this Sunday in the grounds of Limerick City Hall.

We have also been working on the Simon Cumbers Media Fund and the deadline for the summer funding round has now passed.

Finally, we are preparing for the Comhar Media Fund workshop which is taking place on Tuesday, 1st June from 3-5pm. Those interested in taking part can register by emailing noomi@dhr.ie. The deadline for the Comhar Media Fund is Friday, 18th June.

‘Ronnie Whelan’s Rocky Road to Dublin Walking Challenge’ kicks off this Thursday, 29th April until Tuesday, 4th May. Ronnie Whelan will walk 130km across Ireland in an effort to raise awareness of the Myasthenia Gravis disease. The walk will cover four stages from Galway to Dublin including the Western Way, the Slieve Bloom Mountains, St. Kevin’s Way and the coastal route from Greystones to Dublin. Members of the public interested in joining Ronnie Whelan on his walk should visit: www.rockyroad.ie or call: 01 478 4505.