Achievements

"ICON is a genuine, energising voice- a voice that is not going to be stopped. It is a voice that can- and I hope will- change our perspectives and prioritise the basic inequalities in our city and our country".
President Mary Robinson at the ICON Launch in February 1993

The issues taken up by ICON are wide ranging, including themes of education, youth, childcare and family, economy, drugs, community and tenants, arts and culture and the elderly and reflect the organisations that make up ICON.

Education

Education has been a focus of community activists in the north and east inner city. Despite the existence of an infrastructure of community and statutory organisations the proposal for a Community College to be located in Sean MacDermott Street arose out of the recognition that there was no structural mechanism which allowed this infrastructure to participate in the management and delivery of education in the area.

ICON developed a submission to the VEC concerning the proposed community college. The submission emphasised the community college as an educational resource together with the important role of the community college in building links and addressing educational deprivation that exists in the area. Issues addressed included community involvement and participation, special education support, support for teachers, crèche facilities, adult and community education and enhancement of community resources. Links with youth services, first and third level education, gardai, training workshops, curriculum development and local business were highlighted in the ICON view of the partnership approach.

The VEC Advisory Committee was established to address the issues surrounding the two existing schools in the area (Parnell School and North Strand School) which were to be amalgamated in the new Community College. The Committee's broad based membership, which included a range of community, business and third level organisations.

The Larkin Community College was opened in September 1999; more information is available at (www.larkincommunitycollege.ie).

Education Task Force Proposal, October 2000

Throughout 1999 and 2000, ICON held a number of seminars and workshops involving representatives from community groups and statutory agencies. Tackling educational disadvantage is a fundamental aspect of addressing social and economic disadvantage in the North East inner City. The proposal to establish an Education Task Force to address the educational disadvantage that exists in the NEIC arose from the ICON Conference in October 1998.

It was proposed that the Education Task Force would prepare and oversee a development strategy for education services in the NEIC. This would include:

  • Maximising existing resources
  • Ensuring effective integration and co-ordination of the services and agencies involved,
  • Identifying key priorities for the achievement of objectives of the strategy.
  • Ensuring the agreed strategy is consistent with national policy
  • Submitting proposals (or assisting other groups) to access funds for further developments as necessary.
  • Monitor and evaluate the implementation of the strategy
  • Make recommendations to the Department of Education and Science drawing from Local experiences
  • Initiate and contribute to research on relevant topics and issues.

As part of the campaign for an Education Task Force, ICON lobbied the Dail on 3rd October 2000.
Young people, education and training project workers, teachers and community activists wearing college caps and gowns presented arriving T.D.'s with scrolls calling for an Education Task Force.

At an information session for T.D.'s and senators, Professor P.J. Drudy of Trinity College Dublin and Karen Dowling, a North Inner City student who had returned to TCD on a scholarship to study law, spoke of the impact that educational disadvantage has on communities.

While many recognised and acknowledge the need for an Education Task Force, there was politician will or support within the Department of Education and Science to establish one at that time.

Drugs

ICON's attempt to address the problem of drugs in the NEIC has been two-fold. On one hand there has been the initiation of the Inter Agency Drugs Project, on the other hand a Drugs Crisis Campaign which was set up in 1995.

The Inter Agency Drugs Project was formed in October 1995. It was initiated by ICON and it took 2 years to get the project up and running. At the ICON General meeting in 1993, there was a discussion of the drugs crisis in the area and it was felt that there was no real ownership of the drugs problem and that an integrates approach to tackling the issue was necessary. As a result the Inter Agency Drugs Monitoring Group was established and the first meeting included representatives from ICON, the Eastern Health Board, the Gardai and a number of local TD's. The aim was to develop an integrated, locally based response to the drug problem in the NEIC and to develop alternative approaches at a polci and a practival level.