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Home About Us Members Press Centre Publications Taskforce Events Contact Details Accessibility Statement	Speech by Mary Davis, Chairperson at the launch of the Report of the Taskforce on Active Citizenship On behalf of myself, and the members of the Taskforce on Active Citizenship, I would like to welcome you here today and to thank the Taoiseach for launching our Report. Last April, the Taoiseach established the Taskforce on Active Citizenship and asked us to lead a “national conversation” on the extent to which citizens engage in the issues that affect them and their communities – in effect, to establish what ‘Active Citizenship’ means to people in the changed country that is Ireland today. We set about our task through extensive consultations across a wide-range of representative organisations, interest groups, and the general public. We would like to thank everyone who consulted or engaged with us in whatever way for their time and effort. By sharing with us your experiences, you have helped us capture the sense of what is really happening in Irish communities today, and to translate that sense into a set of realistic measures that we feel will enhance the work already being done to develop a strong, independent and inclusive, civil society. Throughout our consultations, we heard so many inspiring stories of individuals and organisations contributing to the well being of the community. Despite pressures of time, work, and family commitments we found an overwhelming willingness by people from all sectors of society to participate in the issues that affect them on a local and national level. However, we also found a great deal of untapped potential – opportunities to improve the quality of life in Ireland through more, and better quality, engagement by citizens in shaping what happens in their neighbourhoods, communities and society as a whole. The challenge for the Taskforce, therefore, has been to compile a set of measures that enhance that spirit of neighbourliness that we are so famous for, and work in partnership to adapt to the changing nature of volunteering and create better opportunities for citizens to participate. In this report, we have set out our vision of what it means to be an active citizen – and how individuals might be supported and encouraged to be active citizens. Our recommendations are not just addressed to Government: we have also asked individuals to consider how they might become more involved in their own community: for example by spending at least one percent of their time, or less than two hours a week, doing community service or activity outside the home that they enjoy. We have also made proposals about how community and voluntary organisations, the business sector and the media can themselves contribute to promoting Active Citizenship. We have focused our recommendations to Government to those actions which we believe will make a difference in the areas of: Participation in the Democratic Process The Public Service and Citizens Community Engagement, and Promoting a Sense of Community Education for Citizenship Ethnic and Cultural Diversity and the Challenge of Engaging Newcomers There isn’t time now to go through these in detail – and you can all read them in the Report itself – but we feel that they are a coherent and achievable set of actions. We have also recommended establishment of an Office of Active Citizenship which will build on the relationships already established through our consultations – with Government bodies, the corporate sector and with community and voluntary organisations and groups. Once again, I wish to thank everyone who participated in the debate and who contributed to the production of this Report. The debate on Active Citizenship has provided a good basis for positive progress in the implementation phase and I look forward to the results of that work in the years ahead. Ends	Search: Printer Friendly Version Email a Friend Useful Links

Speech by Mary Davis, Chairperson at the launch of the Report of the Taskforce on Active Citizenship

On behalf of myself, and the members of the Taskforce on Active Citizenship, I would like to welcome you here today and to thank the Taoiseach for launching our Report.

Last April, the Taoiseach established the Taskforce on Active Citizenship and asked us to lead a “national conversation” on the extent to which citizens engage in the issues that affect them and their communities – in effect, to establish what ‘Active Citizenship’ means to people in the changed country that is Ireland today. We set about our task through extensive consultations across a wide-range of representative organisations, interest groups, and the general public.

We would like to thank everyone who consulted or engaged with us in whatever way for their time and effort. By sharing with us your experiences, you have helped us capture the sense of what is really happening in Irish communities today, and to translate that sense into a set of realistic measures that we feel will enhance the work already being done to develop a strong, independent and inclusive, civil society.

Throughout our consultations, we heard so many inspiring stories of individuals and organisations contributing to the well being of the community. Despite pressures of time, work, and family commitments we found an overwhelming willingness by people from all sectors of society to participate in the issues that affect them on a local and national level.

However, we also found a great deal of untapped potential – opportunities to improve the quality of life in Ireland through more, and better quality, engagement by citizens in shaping what happens in their neighbourhoods, communities and society as a whole.

The challenge for the Taskforce, therefore, has been to compile a set of measures that enhance that spirit of neighbourliness that we are so famous for, and work in partnership to adapt to the changing nature of volunteering and create better opportunities for citizens to participate.

In this report, we have set out our vision of what it means to be an active citizen – and how individuals might be supported and encouraged to be active citizens.

Our recommendations are not just addressed to Government: we have also asked individuals to consider how they might become more involved in their own community: for example by spending at least one percent of their time, or less than two hours a week, doing community service or activity outside the home that they enjoy.

We have also made proposals about how community and voluntary organisations, the business sector and the media can themselves contribute to promoting Active Citizenship.

We have focused our recommendations to Government to those actions which we believe will make a difference in the areas of:

Participation in the Democratic Process
The Public Service and Citizens
Community Engagement, and Promoting a Sense of Community
Education for Citizenship
Ethnic and Cultural Diversity and the Challenge of Engaging Newcomers

There isn’t time now to go through these in detail – and you can all read them in the Report itself – but we feel that they are a coherent and achievable set of actions.

We have also recommended establishment of an Office of Active Citizenship which will build on the relationships already established through our consultations – with Government bodies, the corporate sector and with community and voluntary organisations and groups.

Once again, I wish to thank everyone who participated in the debate and who contributed to the production of this Report. The debate on Active Citizenship has provided a good basis for positive progress in the implementation phase and I look forward to the results of that work in the years ahead.

Ends