The future of
Rialto Community Network

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Rialto Community Network, a Community Development Project, has been at the heart of this community for over 14 years. For all of that time we have been focused on combating disadvantage, making life better for everyone in Rialto and addressing social issues which cause difficulties for people. For some we are the office next to the Credit Union where you can pop in for information and help whenever you need it; for others we are an open door to assistance on a range of topics; others still know us as the group who run Dolphin Creche and facilitate Dolphin Homework Club; for seniors we are a crucial link to activities, information and social interaction; for new communities we are a link to integration into the Irish community in which they now live.

We are a local group, providing a local service to a local community. That is the essence of Rialto Community Network. Now, that is being taken away. Not from us, but from YOU - the people of Rialto. The future of this project and all its benefits for the Rialto area is under threat because of a new government policy of shutting down all community development projects, of which we are one.

I was present at an information session informing us of the roll out and implementation of a new programme to replace the Community Development Programme. In essence what does the creation of a new programme and the implementation of the New Local Community Development Programme mean to us? Locally, all CDPs in the Canals area (comprising Rialto, Inchicore, Bluebell and Kilmainham) which are deemed "viable" by the government will have to merge with the Canals Communities Partnership, a local area based partnership, which will be closely monitored by the City Development Board. We will no longer be autonomous community projects. This will impact not only Rialto Community Network but Dolphin House CDA, St. Michael's Estate and Bluebell CDP.

As Project Leader of Rialto Community Network, I can only say what it means to Rialto Community Network - a community development project established in 1995 after the local people identified the need for such a specific project to address and combat disadvantage in the Rialto area.

The Network was established with a voluntary board of management which for the last 14 years has supported and focused the work of the project and guided the number of dedicated staff who have carried out the work of the Network, in essence serving the people of Rialto. Currently you will know Atinuke, Jules, Debbie & me, Ann. We as the present staff team love our work and love the community of Rialto which has supported us in carrying out our work in this local community to whom we are very dedicated.

What now?
The Department of Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs informed us on the 25th November that from January 2010 Rialto Community Network will be forcibly merged with the Canal Communities Partnership, in a process they are calling streamlining. In 2010 the Board of Management will be required to sign up to the New Local and Community Development Programme and the integration of Rialto Community Network into the Canals Communities Partnership. A condition of integration with the Partnership is that the Voluntary Board of Management is wound down. The Department, despite continually verbally voicing support for volunteering, has decided that this invaluable service to the local community, not to mention huge source of knowledge for the project, is no longer needed. I, as one who has worked closely with our Board of Management, dispute this vigorously. The Board of Management of the Network have worked hard for the people of Rialto and the needs of the community. The board is made up of local people who know the needs and are aware of the issues in their local area in a way people based outside of Rialto simply cannot.

Having spent a lot of time reflecting on this, what I see happening in the coming year is the end of Rialto Community Network, the end of Rialto having a local project to support the whole area in its social and community needs. I feel devastated, angry and helpless all at the same time. I am devastated for the people and the various projects with whom we have worked closely over the years, past and present staff, local volunteers but most importantly the local community who depend on us, our services, our "local" dimension and the open-door policy which is so important to who we are. I am devastated for our staff team because while the Department says our team will move into the Partnership in reality we all know what streamlining means - the Partnership have their own staff team, they have a community development section with their own workers.

For you the people of Rialto it means you lose a resource which is currently there for you alone; we will now be merged into a larger organisation with a very wide brief of the whole of the Canals area - Kilmainham, Bluebell, Inchicore and Rialto. Rialto will no longer have a project focused for its needs. It is inevitable that valuable pieces of work will be lost, the needs of groups and individuals will be lost and the huge bank of knowledge held by the voluntary board of management will be lost. If any person from the Department reads this they will say it is full of inaccuracies, they simply are doing what they have to do.

The fact is Rialto Community Network has to merge with the Canals Partnership or lose its core (& staff) funding.

The fact is the voluntary board of management who have so well served the community will be disbanded.

The fact is a small, viable, local organisation is being forced to merge with a larger organisation all in the name of value for money without any thought for the impact on the people, the community we work with.

Every decision around community development should take into account the impact it will have on local communities; this new government policy seeks only to save money with no care for the communities it purports to support.

Ann Swords, Project Leader
Tony MacCarthaigh, Chairperson
Rialto Community Network

 

Funded by the Irish Government
under the National Development Plan
2007–2013

 

Last update January 2010

 

Website design & maintenance by Charles Foster

What you can do to help us

PLEASE, contact your local TDs and Councillors and demand they lobby Minister Eamonn O Cuiv and Minister John Curran in the hope that they will change their minds and keep what is an important resource for Rialto in Rialto. See contact details below.

Sean Ardagh, TD
(Fianna Fail)
sean@ardagh.org
01 456 8736/01 618 3597

Michael Mulcahy, TD
(Fianna Fail)
mmulcahy@oireachtas.ie
01 618 3000/01 676 1319

Catherine Byrne, TD
(Fine Gael)
catherine.byrne@oireachtas.ie
01 473 5080

Aengus O'Snodaigh, TD
(Sinn Fein)
aengus.osnodaigh@oireachtas.ie
01 625 9320

Mary Upton, TD
(Labour)
mary.upton@oireachtas.ie
01 618 3756

Cllr. Criona Ni Dhalaigh
(Sinn Fein)
crionanidhalaigh@dublincity.ie
01 625 9320

Cllr. John Gallagher
(Labour)
john.gallagher@dublincity.ie
01 453 8648

Cllr. Rebecca Moynihan
(Labour)
Rebecca.moynihan@dublincity.ie
087-956 6588

Cllr. Clare Byrne
(Fine Gael)
clare.byrne@dublincity.ie
01 454 0920

Find out more about our work in our latest newsletter, online here.