Community News

Community News: May 2024

ISL Act Subgroup Meeting  

The Advocacy Manager established a subgroup to assess the implementation of the ISL Act 2017. It was decided that IDS would first discuss the action plans before inviting relevant stakeholders. The CEO, Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Research and Policy Officer, and Advocacy Manager were chosen as IDS representatives for the subgroup. 

Front Office Administration  

The Front Office Administrator attended an “Introduction to Easy to Read” Webinar hosted by DPCN and Inclusion Ireland. The webinar went through an initial guide on how to design Easy-To-Read documents. This will be of benefit in the future with creating Easy-To-Read translations of our publications and if necessary, Governance policy documents.  

Local Election and EU Election Information Meeting  

Local Election 

The Advocacy Team spent a lot of time preparing the local election information night and successfully invited 12 local candidates out of 19 from the Cabra and Glasnevin area. Eleven candidates turned up. Deaf members asked valid questions linked to the IDS manifesto.

 European Election  

The Advocacy Team invited candidates to come to the IDS Studio to film them explaining their priorities and answering some questions linked to IDS manifesto and these videos were shared on IDS social media platforms. We invited 23 candidates, but only 7 participated in the filming. A schedule of all 7 was made for one morning with a slot of 20 minutes per candidate and an ISL interpreter was provided by IDS.  

Information Office   

The Information Officer continues to be very busy with many Deaf people. The Information Officer also provided ISL videos every week through social media, our website, the weekly newsletter, and on TV displays to ensure that relevant information is shared with the Deaf community. 

Community News 

The Information Officer shared updates from the board’s report for April 2024, selecting relevant and interesting information for the Deaf community. This information was shared on social media platforms, E-Info weekly, the website, and on the TV display at the Information Office.

WhatsApp Channel from Information Office  

The Information Officer has set up a new channel on WhatsApp for the Irish Deaf Society which anyone can follow. It is an ideal way of sharing information relevant to the Deaf community, so no one misses out. 

Link: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaeie7zLNSaAAwjxg700 

The Advocacy Project Officer has been invited as another admin. We’ve have over 100 followers so far and hopefully this number will continue to grow. 

ISL translations for IDS submissions 2024  

There have been three IDS submissions so far this year. The Information Officer is still working on translating all of them to ISL and uploading them on the website under the Publications page. One submission is now on the webpage – the remaining two will be translated as soon as possible. 

IDS Website Update Summary   

The Information Officer made sure the website’s information remains up to date. ISL videos are uploaded on the home page with links for easy access.  

Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act and Enduring Power of Attorney  

The meeting on the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act and Enduring Power of Attorney for the Deaf community, scheduled for March 19th, was postponed due to a lack of ISL interpreters. 

The Information Officer has rescheduled the meeting with Gayle Ralph, FG and Local Area Representative. The agreed date will be announced as soon as possible, depending on confirmation of ISL interpreters’ availability by Gayle Ralph. The Information Officer will announce to the public once the ISL interpreters are confirmed. 

Fair Deal Scheme Information Meeting

The Irish Deaf Society and North Dublin Citizens Information are hosting an information meeting for the Deaf community about the Fair Deal Scheme, which offers financial support for nursing home care on Tuesday, 9th July,  2:00pm – 4:00pm in Cabragh Hall, Deaf Village. ISL Interpreters available.

The scheme, managed by the HSE, helps cover nursing home costs for approved private, voluntary, and public homes.

IHREC Conference on Achieving Equality at Work – Promoting Socio-Economic Equality in Employment  

The Advocacy Manager and Project Officer attended a conference focused on promoting socio-economic equality in employment, particularly for socio-economically disadvantaged groups. The conference aimed to provide practical support to employers in their commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion, facilitating job opportunities and career advancement for these groups. During the conference, the Project Officer presented a session titled “Overcoming Barriers to Employment – Perspective of Right Holders,” where he shared firsthand experiences of discrimination and obstacles faced by Deaf people in the workforce. He also introduced the “Deaf Career Project,” which offers guidance to assist employers and career guidance on supporting Deaf people in their career paths. 

CORU – Regulating Health and Social Care Professional 

The Advocacy Manager and the FET Course Management Assistant participated in a one-on-one meeting as part of the CORU public consultation process. CORU’s objective is to collect feedback from service users, such as Deaf people, regarding their experiences and interactions with practitioners. They aim to identify the key skills that Deaf people would expect from health and social care practitioners. 

Disability Policy Symposium 

At a symposium on “Strengthening Data and Evidence,” organized by the Department of Public Expenditure, the Advocacy Manager discussed the importance of data in disability policy. Despite the lack of interpreters for networking, valuable discussions were held on reviewing the ISL Act with representatives from NDA and DCEDIY. 

“What about a career as an ISL Interpreter” Webinar 

A webinar by CISLI and CDS encouraged students to consider careers as ISL interpreters, highlighting the shortage in Ireland compared to Finland. IDS offers Deaf Awareness training in schools to promote this career path. 

Charity Shops:  

Exciting news, our new Bray shop is being prepared and will open soon! The signage is up outside the shop on Bray Main Street and we are hoping to open at the end of the month. We will have a formal launch later in the summer! 

ISL Translation Services 

Many of you know that IDS offer an ISL translation service, we do lots of work for Government organisations like the HSE or Government Departments and also for private companies. We have a film studio in our offices in Cabra. If you hear of anyone who needs English translated to ISL, ask them to get in touch with us! For more information or a quotation for translation contact Sophie, our media services administrator, at sophie@irishdeafsociety.ie.  

FET 

We have had 56 courses in the Spring term of 2024 with 427 students enrolled.  Of the 427, 175 are Deaf students.  We will be launching the new courses in August 2024.  We have advertised for more ISL teaching staff. 

General

IDS had a successful AGM on 8th June at in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Athlone hosted by Athlone Deaf Social. The AGM was a hybrid event in person and on Zoom for members. We will be sharing a recording of the meeting on our social media in the coming week. 

Published: 24th June 2024

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Irish Deaf Society