The Inner City Organisations Network (ICON) is a voluntary organisation operating in the North-East Inner City of Dublin. It is made up of community projects, local tenants groups as well as individuals working and living in the area. A key focus of the network is to create forums for debate and local policy making and to explore issues affecting the local community such as drugs, education, unemployment, issues affecting women and the impact of urban developments in the area.
Inherent in the aims of the organisation is a commitment to pursuing a partnership approach between statutory and non-statutory sectors as well as actively encouraging the participation of local tenants and residents in initiatives such as Local Drugs Task Force and Dublin Inner City Partnership. This extends to developments that have a significant impact on the area such as Dublin Docklands Development and Dublin City Council Area Plan for the North Inner City.
ICON has organised five major conferences to date. These have focused on a participatory approach involving the community and voluntary and statutory agencies. A major element of these conferences has been the involvement of local people and developing links with a wide range of government agencies. This approach has been key in the development of initiativessuch as the Inter-Agency Drugs Project, the Integrated Services Initiative, the Integrated Area Plan and The Employment Network.