May 2024
IDS Update: 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.