Minutes of the Dublin Social Forum Meeting Thursday 11th March 2004.

dublin | public consultation / irish social forum | news report Friday March 12, 2004 21:28 by Niav - Dublin Social Forum Working Group

Update from the Dublin Social Forum Working Group.

The Dublin Social Forum is a local forum of the Irish Social Forum. The ISF is a process for the varous sectors of Irish civil society to come together in the spirit of co-operation and mutual respect to share our concerns and analysis, to exchange ideas and experiences, and to build alliances in order to to offer alternatives to the implications of corporate led globalisation or neo liberalisation.
At the moment we are involved in organising the 2nd ISF Summit titled You and the EU. Following the success of the first ISF Summit on Co-Operation and Solidarity held in October 2003, the 2nd Summit is being held in order to coincide with the hosting of the Irish EU Presidency.
We want YOU! Get involved by coming to our weekly meetings (Thursdays at 7:30 in the Comhlamh Offices, 10 Upper Camden Street, Dublin 2). Where you at the first ISF Summit? We want to know what you thought about it? The compliments and the criticisms - all feedback is appreciated!
Below are the minutes of our latest meeting.

Minutes of the Dublin Social Forum Meeting Thursday 11th March 2004.

Present: Mary Kinane (Chair), Paul Kinsella, Mark O' Connor, Paul Butler, Niav Keating (Minutes), Duncan Crowley.

Apologies: Clare Lee, Liz Curry, Barry Finnegan.

Agenda.
· Update on Venues
· Follow-up on Speakers
· Outreach
· Communications/Website
· Any Other Business

Update on Venues.
TCDà PB asked Labour Youth to book this venue but Trinity has refused. The possibility of writing a letter to Trinity (relevant department) to question the reasons for the refusal was suggested. PB to follow up.
DIT Bolton Street à DC is pursuing this and the Architecture Department may endorse his request in order to secure the venue. DIT have requested that we supply them with information about what the ISF is, how it works etc… DC also needs information about how many rooms, lecture theatres, canteen facilities, etc… in order to get the venue.

At this stage of the meeting the possibility of postponing the event was suggested. It seems that we are running out of time. A venue is still not confirmed and there is a large decrease in the number of people involved in organising the event. It was therefore decided that the second ISF Summit would be postponed to June (Saturday 19th & Sunday 20th). It was felt that the summit could address issues such as the follow-up from May Day events, Conclusion of EU Presidency, George Bush's visit and the Referendum. A new list of venues were drawn up and these included:

DIT Bolton Street (as well as other DITs - Kevin Street, Aungier Street etc) à DC
Royal College of Surgeons à PB
ATGWU à BF

The Teachers Club which had been booked for Sunday April 18th April will be cancelled.

Follow-up on Speakers.
Despite the postponement of the Summit it was agreed that the structure of the event as decided at previous meetings should be kept.

International Trade & Developing Countries
MK asked Conall O' Caoimh who is available and Tony Joyce who is unavailable.

Militarism
CB is pursuing Ed Horgan and a Law lecturer from UCD.

Environment.
DDB is following this up.

Fortress Europe.
PB is in the process of e-mailing prospective speakers.

Liberalisation and Public Services.
BF is following this up.

Social Justice.
MOC has asked Robin Hannon and Brendan Young, both of which have confirmed.

Vincent Brown is unavailable to facilitate the Sunday afternoon session. We will need facilitators for all the above 6 sessions. The original structure of the event had scope for six workshops however we could now have more. This will depend on the venue.

Communications.
There are major problems with our communications structure at the moment. Those involved in the DSF and in organising the first ISF Summit feel out of the loop. There is a lack of contact between us and there are problems with the times of meetings, minutes of meetings etc.. not being advertised and circulated. One of the major problems is the ISF website (http://www.irishsocialforum.org). The website has not been updated since October. This gives the impression that we are inactive. We are currently sharing the server and we need to purchase the domain, which will cost $200. MK is to contact BF regarding updating the website. It was also suggested that we should once again try to publish the minutes of all meetings online on Indymedia.

Outreach.
The structure of the ISF needs to be addresses especially our position with regards to the ESF and WSF. We need to contact other regional social forums around the country. The role of the DSF in organising ISFs needs to be questioned. Perhaps the 3rd ISF could take place outside of Dublin. In order to obtain feedback from the regional social forums, contact people have been designated.
Cork à NK, North East à PB and South East à MK.
It was suggested that we contact social forums from around Europe to enquire about the social forum process. NK will e-mail the ESF mailing list. It was also suggested that with many European activists travelling to Ireland for the Mayday events that we use this as a way to make contacts with other social forums.
The DSF will try and organise a stall at the Convergence Festival and if a Convergence Centre is established for May Day we will use this as an opportunity to create links with other activists.

For outreach purposes we need to divide groups and organisations into sections and these need to be divided out between people. An Invitational letter needs to be drafted which will explain what the Social Forum is and how it works and who is involved. Since we have no venue/dates confirmed then we may have to hold off on outreach till we have details confirmed. The current letter needs to be amended - we need to mention the other regional social forums and the logo needs to be changed (move dot off Dublin!)

Any Other Business.
The Cork Social Forum will take place on March 27th and 28th in the Community Hall in Ballinhassig (which is only 7 miles from Cork City).

The Programme is as follows

Day One: 27th March
10am: Opening circle.
11am- 12pm: Workshop: The European constitution; implications for the local and global community.
12pm-1.30pm: Open space dialogue.
1.30pm-2.30pm: Lunch.
2.30pm- 3.30pm: Workshop: Protecting your local environment.
3.30- 5pm: Open space dialogue.
5pm: Closing circle.
8pm-1130pm: Social, music and chillout time.

Day Two: 28th March
10am: Opening circle.
11am-12pm: Workshop: G.A.T.S. and free trade.
12pm- 1.30pm: Open space dialogue.
1.30-2.30pm: Lunch.
2.30-4pm: Practical advice for local action.
4pm: Closing circle.

The contact details for the forum are phone (026 47352), e-mail (corksocialforum@utvinternet.com) and website (http://www.corksocialforum.utvinternet.com). It is hoped that as many of those involved in the DSF will attend the event. A letter of goodwill is to be written on behalf of the DSF to the CSF wishing them all the best with the event.

Next meeting will take place same time and place - Thursday 18th March at 7:30 in the Comhlamh offices, 10 Upper Camden Street, Dublin 2.