SpunOut.ie Blog
February, 2010
SpunOut.ie on RTE's The Frontline
Discussing youth unemployment and social change.
We need to decide what kind of country we want
SpunOut.ie says 'time to take control.'
Ireland has the 3rd largest per capita population of young people in Europe. Over 35% of our population is under 25. We are highly educated, skilled and well travelled. In many ways we have fuelled the progress of the past decade, helping the country rise beyond our difficult and turbulent history, into becoming a vibrant and dynamic nation that is more diverse, open and confident.
We’ve achieved things our grandparents only dreamed of and in the same period are now facing a crash landing into a harsh reality.
1 in 3 young people are now out of work, the third highest rate in the EU, whilst many of us in employment are living in anxious and temporary conditions, where firms and financers see us as disposable or replaceable statistics.
With almost 500,000 people relying on a strained social welfare system, we’ve landed a vast pool of ideas, talents, skills and energy on to a human scrap heap whilst ironically funding it through the scare tax contributions of those of us lucky enough to have the basic life necessity called a job.
Surrounding all of this we are witnessing the traditional pillars of power, authority and decision making come tumbling down. The church, state, politics, the unions, industry and banking are all scrambling to put out the raging fires they themselves helped create.
This is much more than an economic recession. It is a period of social transformation where all skeletons are out of the closet and we have to face up to hard facts.
The evidence is presented to us daily. Crumbling schools, under-funded colleges, a never ending crisis in the health system - all fundamental measures of a decent society. We have ongoing political scandals, growing tensions about mismanaged immigration and our climate change fight is being fought by building incinerators, cutting bus services and building more roads.
People are struggling on many fronts. Relationships are under pressure, money is tight and anxiety and depression are common place. There is no doubt that frustration and anger is rising and we may yet see a return to the protest movements of the ‘80s, only this time fed by a more larger and more organised younger generation who don’t have all the same emigration options.
You only have to read the headlines to know there’s no easy way out of this one. Certainly a model of development that sees people hand over their power and purse strings to charming men in suits every few years isn’t going to cut it.
We need to go back to basics to understand and solve these problems. We need to decide what kind of country we the people want. We need a national discussion and debate where every man, woman and child participates in a meaningful way. Each of us has gifts, skills and talents to offer and whilst young people represent a powerful and energetic force for change, we need all ages to play their part.
It is time to redefine ourselves beyond being a nation of pharmaceutical and software exporters or drunken gombeen men. It is time to nurture a new consciousness that unites us, gives us true pride and belief in ourselves and each other, a consciousness that challenges discredited authority and inspires new systems and structures that are community based and people led. That way we all take responsibility for where we are and where we’re going.
As the old ways coming falling down, bringing chaos and confusion for many, space is being created for new ways to emerge.
We are entering the core of this transformation and it’s time to re-imagine what is possible for the country, for job creation, healthcare, environment and ourselves. We have the technology and the tools, the people and the energy.
The only thing stopping us is ourselves.
SpunOut.ie Blog: Where's my justice?
Grab your megaphone.
Martin Luther King Jr. reminds us, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
What matters to you?
SpunOut.ie is asking the related question: ‘Where’s my justice?’
Think about it. Do you feel deprived? Wronged? Ignored? Silenced? Disrespected? Or simply unhappy with the staleness of the status quo of things in your life, community, country and the world?
It is all too easy to slip into blind complacency, to get distracted with the day-to-day and lose sight of the bigger and deeper issues that matter to us. Even with all the awareness, passion and eagerness in the world, sometimes we just throw your hands up because we don’t know what the hell we could possibly do to change things or where to start!
Start here. Speak up. Get active. Use the space here at SpunOut.ie to voice your thoughts and ideas, to link with others and to get information on the issues that matter to you.
Keep your eyes peeled for inspiration over the coming weeks from others questioning both the injustices that scream and those that linger, everything from gay rights in Ireland, to double standards on oral sex, to homelessness in Dublin, and more and more to open the eyes and stir our calls for change and justice.
Let’s keep living!
Given the rather heavy-hitting material to grace our ‘Where’s my justice?’ homepage, we thought we’d add a little sugar to the black coffee if you will by having a nice ol’ rant about the DAILY INJUSTICES that ruffle our tail feathers... hey these daily annoyances can really add up!
- Excessive text volleys... at some stage you just need to pick up the phone and talk!
- Golf umbrellas... enough said!
- Not enough milk left to make a cup of tea... why, oh why?
- The drone of traffic interfering with a peaceful walk by the sea... go away cars!
- Cashiers who rush ya... would you let me put my change in my wallet already?!
- The phone ringing literally as soon as dinner is ready
- Why is the telly always on... and then up too loud... am I getting old?!!!
- It’s February - put away the Christmas decorations already
- Being chained to a freakin desk... tis not natural ya know
- Talking out loud on a mobile phone while shopping... jeez!
- NTL - do I really need to comment?
- Broadband in Ireland
- Family gatherings and being asked what you're up to
- Going out for a walk on a sunny day and the sun disappears immediately
- Chuggers, of course
- Gone off milk in my tea
- Falling in public providing entertainment for the masses
- Email overload
- Spending time on a computer writing about the joys of nature
- Buses which leave early
- Buses which arrive late
- Not using indicators when driving ('indicator' is pretty self-explanatory as far as names go!)
- Slow traffic lights
- Having your stuff nicked
- Jeremy Kyle (the pr**k. this man gets paid for being a bully. Telly at it's worst)
- Double sided DVD's - can you say annoying?!
- When breakfast burns on the morning you are rushing around and can't afford to be late!
- Nosey people who keep asking personal questions
- When your tea gets cold before you get to drink it
- When your forget to defrost the main dinner ingredient the night before
- People who play their music really loud on the bus so that everyone else has to listen to it (why do they always have rubbish taste in music by the way?)
- Passive-aggressive Facebook statuses - if you're annoyed, tell the person in question about it, don't sulk about it Facebook for the whole world to see
- Getting up really early to buy tickets on Ticketmaster only to have them all sell out in about 20 seconds
- Living with people who never take their turn at cleaning the cooker - grrrrr!
- Drivers who drive through puddles to splash you on a rainy day
- Housemates who do not clean up after themselves
- People who play the same song over and over and over again
- Neighbours who do not close the blinds when changing
- The girl in the local shop who never says ‘hi’ or ‘thank you’ even though I've been in there nearly every day for about 7 months
- Paying over 6 euro for a crap pint
- Builders who drill at 7 in the morning
- Sloppy tabloid journalism!
- The doom and gloom of the media
- Ryanair!
- Walking behind a smoker in the street
- People who complain all the time....(ahem)
- The SpunOut.ie Crew
Vent your daily injustices HERE.
SpunOut Blog: Can you relate?
Connections that carry us through the journey.
As much as we’re prompted to look out for #1 at the end of the day, have you ever considered starting the day being 100% focused on really being present as much with others as we usually are with our fine selves, and just seeing how that goes?
Our world is comprised of relationships. Not in one, you say? Well , you may not be basking under candle-lit glow this Valentine’s Day, but you have countless relationships- everyone from the chatty SpunOut Forum Mod who gave you a killer boost of confidence (wink wink) to the neighbour who’s name you don’t know even though only a thin wall separates your lives. Mum, mate, Mother Earth, and Madonna, they all play a role in shaping our lives, and in the other direction, us in imprinting our unique selves upon them.
There is so much to experience from and with others if we take the plunge and open ourselves to the give and take of interaction. Rage, joy, sadness, bliss, embarrassment, jealousy and confusion are just some of the emotions that pump through our veins in the mad world of relationships! They are head-wrecking and soul-soothing, the connections that carry us through the journey.
We hope you enjoy the next two weeks of content covering everything from relating to ourselves (‘Being in the closet’); to our family (‘American Dad’); to the object of our affections (‘Crushes and brains’); and much much more, so keep an eye out!
Lastly, BIG CONGRATS to Ciaran Harford from Dublin, winner of the recent SpunOut.ie Photo Competition. Ciaran’s amazing photo ‘Two-faced’ won the honour of gracing the SpunOut.ie homepage for the duration of our ‘Can you relate?’ campaign.
Rock on.
-The SpunOut.ie Crew
Being a winner is a frame of mind right? Some other top Photo Comp entries:
Spring greets from SpunOut.ie HQ
Looking back on '09 and looking forward to '10.
Greetings from SpunOut HQ here in Galway where we’re finally starting to thaw out!
It’s February 1st, Brigid’s day (public holiday anyone?), and the first day of spring. Hopefully warm winds are on the way. It’s been a while since our last update and we want to fill you in on what we’ve been up to and let you know about our exciting plans for the year ahead... just in case you thought we were dossing down on our beloved Quay Street!
We also want to say: a huge thanks for sticking with us and helping SpunOut.ie grow into an exciting and much needed youth movement for social change. We’re looking forward to the year ahead and to any feedback or suggestions you have for us.
These are testing times all around. The past year has been tough for us here at HQ but we rose to the challenges and things are looking better than ever as we work hard to support the youth of the nation to build a better Ireland.
Please take a minute to scroll down and read about our 2009 highlights and some of our exciting plans for the year ahead.
Here’s to a great year for all and hopefully some sunshine along the way!
Eoghan, Ian, Emily, Ruairí, Anna, Susan and William at HQ and
Rachel, Lynn and Robert in the wings.
The low down on what we were up to in 2009
Big hits and making a big difference
Last year SpunOut.ie reached over 550,000 unique users online, including over 2.5 million pageviews, over 100,000 via YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Bebo, and millions more through media and marketing campaigns throughout the country. This included several TV appearances by SpunOutters and heaps of newspaper, radio and other online coverage.
We were also out and about at conferences and community events throughout the land where we did dozens of presentations and workshops and distributed over 2000 copies of our ‘Our Stories’ compilation magazine.
This means that more people than ever benefited from our health, lifestyle and citizenship info (covering everything from sex to drugs, drink to politics), our interactive discussion forums, our multi-media publishing space and .... Ultimately it meant lives were saved and the youth of Ireland received much needed information, support, platforms and opportunities along the way.
Campaigning for personal and social change
We ran online and media campaigns that included poverty awareness, global justice, volunteering, voting, youth unemployment, body image, sexuality, suicide and positive mental health, international women’s day, exam stress and environmental awareness.Creative, colourful and quality content Content is king here at SpunOut.ie and in 2009 we worked hard to bring you:
- 536 new articles by young people
- 153 new health, lifestyle and citizenship factsheets
- 052 new videos published to our YouTube channel
- 034 new frontpage designs
- 14,000+ moderated discussion forum posts
- 100s of new entries to our searchable database of services
Partners and allies
Along the way we worked in partnership with the HSE, Young Social Innovators, Galway Junior Film Fleadh, Samaritans, the University of Limerick, The Donegal Democrat, The Examiner, Women’s Aid, The Cultivate Centre, The Galway Simon Community, The Galway Refugee Support Centre, Love Music Hate Racism Ireland, The Action on Suicide Alliance and Amnesty International Ireland.
Improving the mothership
We devised a new youth citizenship strategy, put in place new systems to improve how we do things and developed our board of directors to welcome expertise in the areas of marketing (Julian Davis), Media/Public Health (Sara Burke), Finance/Operations (Aonghus Sammin), Human Resources (Suzanne O’Toole), Internet (Damien Mulley), Campaigning (Joe Murray). Meanwhile Youth Board members Andrew Gibbons, Marie Duffy and Paddy Duffy all joined the board and are paving the way for further youth leadership in everything we do.
Paying the bills
We had a tough year financially but we gratefully received a mix of core and project support from a range of generous supporters including: The One Foundation, the HSE (Health Promotion and the National Office for Suicide Prevention, minus 12.5%), The Dormant Accounts Fund, The Communicating Europe Initiative, The Community Foundation for Ireland, Google Ireland, The Vodafone Foundation, Ernst and Young, Turning the Tide on Suicide (3Ts), Galway City and County Councils, the Combat Poverty Agency, Simon Cumbers Media Challenge Fund, The National Lottery and a range of individual donations.
We ended last year with the great news of being awarded a three year part-funding from The Atlantic Philanthropies to support our ambitious plans to develop a youth-led social justice movement.
Despite our good fortune we still face a funding gap for 2010 and need to secure additional investment and support. Please keep us in mind if you know any wise or wealthy people, companies or foundations, or maybe you can help with some fundraising yourself? Every effort is a major contribution, and every penny, skill or hour of your valuable time given is an investment in the betterment of Irish society.
More info: http://www.spunout.ie/about/
Expanding the trophy cabinet
We scooped a few awards including a Connaught Business Achievers Award, a Digital Media award, an Enterprise Ireland/Irish Internet Association ‘Net Visionary Award’ and a JCI Ireland award and were also selected as an Irish nominee for the World Summit Awards.
What’s in store for 2010
We don’t believe in sitting around patting ourselves on the back so this year we’ll continue to work hard, build on past achievements and do an even better job of reaching and supporting young people.
The main difference for 2010 and beyond will be new work in the area of youth citizenship, civic engagement and activism that will see us develop a youth social justice movement that facilitates young people to be more resourced and active in making change in their communities.
These plans include:
Online resources
New online factsheets, articles, podcasts and videos covering topics from volunteering to voting, lobbying and protest, to media and money.
Online and media campaigns
We’ll be rolling out youth-led campaigns on issues that affect young people such as education, employment and environment and will be mobilising action for change.
Training programmes
We’ll be devising a new community organising training for young people that provides media, conflict, lobbying, campaigning and meeting skills.
Youth action-grants
We will provide a small amount of mini-grants to young people in the community who have an exceptional campaign or project that they need support with.
We’ll also be:
- Developing SpunOut.ie with new designs, navigation and features
- Creating more content on youth health, lifestyle and citizenship issues
- Recruiting management, citizenship, content and web development staff
- Partnering with like minded agencies in Ireland and abroad
- Building international links with citizenship organisations
- Fundraising to pay for our funding deficit and for new areas of work
Please stay tuned for more information on all of this work.
Please join us
Please get in touch via info@SpunOut.ie if you’d like to get involved or support us in any way. We’re always keen to get help with content development, website development, promotion, outreach or fundraising.
In the meantime please spread the word about SpunOut.ie to your friends and neighbours and join us on Facebook, Bebo, Twitter and YouTube.
Once again, thanks for your support!
Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/
Bebo
http://www.bebo.com/
Twitter
http://twitter.com/SpunOut
YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/
