ICON Projects

ICON addresses most of the issues raised through the working groups. While some groups like the drugs group and the education group have been in operation for a longtime, others are temporary and are active to address a particular issue. The groups are open to those living and working in the ICON area and new members are always welcome.

ICON Health Action Forum

The ICON Health Forum is comprised of local community organisations and individuals living and working in the north east inner city who are exercising their right to participate in health and service development.

  • To help the community improve their own health and services through raising awareness and creating dialogue on health matters among community groups and with health services.
  • To positively influence the health of the population overtime through gathering relevant data and information.
  • Enabling the community to make informed choices through access to appropriate health information and intelligence.
  • Working with the statutory agencies in developing strategies to improve access to health services
  • To ensure the right of the community to be consulted at local level through representative community groups regarding their health needs
  • To ensure that services for the community are appropriate, responsive to their needs, accessible and delivered in a manner that respects their privacy, dignity and individuality.
  • To facilitate the most appropriate delivery of the Primary Health Care Strategy for the ICON area.

The Health Forum was established in January 2007 in response to plans to develop a Primary Health Care Facility at the Mountainview Court site in Summerhill. As a result of the economic downturn the Primary Care Facility is no longer being built. The forum continues to work and negotiate with the HSE around the role out of the primary care strategy in the area.

The Forum has recently begun in conjunction with CAN (Community Action Network) participatory action research into health needs in the area. This work is expected to be completed in June 2010.

Drugs Working Group

The Drugs Working Group comprises of the four ICON community representatives for the North Inner City Drugs Task Force. The four representatives are Emily Reaper, Joe Dowling, Tony Dunleavy and Bernie Howard. Other members of the group include additional community members and is supported by the Community Particiaption Worker. If you ahve any issues that you would like to raise at the Drugs Task Force please contact Ann in ICON.

 

Community Participation

The community participation project is a joint project of the two community networks in Dublin's inner city, ICON and the NWICN.It is funded by the North Inner City Local Drugs Task Force. The aim of the Community Participation Project is to help local people to become involved in the actions and decisions which affect their lives. The Project has produced Good Practice Guide to Participation, a Directory of Drugs Services and is currently working with young people in the area to help them engage in community strcutures.

The project is also part of the Grandparents group, a sub-group was set-up to address the needs of Grandparents who are acting as carers to their grandchildren because of drug related issues. The group is comprised of local residents affected by the issue, project workers, public health nurses, family support workers and welfare officers from the HSE.
Funding was received from the RAPID Technical Budget to undertake further research on the issue. Pilot research was carried out and focus groups were held with grandparent/carers. Speakers from the HSE, Citizens Information Service and local projects participated by presenting information on social welfare entitlements and supports in the area.
From these meetings a need for an information leaflet regarding services was identified by the grandparents. The information leaflet is currently being published and will be launched on a pilot basis in early December. The leaflet outlines rights, entitlements and supports available to grandparents and families acting as carers to children. The final lefalet will be launched in 2010.

Senior Citizens Working Group

In recent years ICON has become increasingly conscious and aware of the circumstances of older people living in the North East Inner City. Concern was raised through various fora that the needs and requirements of older people were not being met. ICON felt that it was important to conduct a detailed and extensive consultation with odler people living in the area. It was decided that in order to achieve the objective of a maximum level of participation from older people it would engage in door-to-door interviews and consultations with older people. It was agreed that the best apporach would be to use local researchers to conduct interviews with older people in their homes or in other places where older people meet and socialise. This strategy succeeded in engagin with 556 (37.2%) of older people living in the NEIC.

The needs analysis was completed in April 2008 and launched by the then Taosieach, Bertie Ahern. The group of local researchers agreed to stay together and form a working group of ICON in order to implement the recommendations from the report. The report can be accessed here.

The group continues to work on the recommendations in the plan and also produces a number of newsletters every year which can be accessed in the publications section of the website.

 

 

For further information please contact the ICON office.