As a result of the restrictions on in-person meetings since Covid-19, the INOU changed our in-person Discussion Forums to online events. Over the last couple of years, this has expanded to include range of different topics. These events are aimed primarily, though not exclusively at our Member Organisations and Individual Members. The online events vary from providing information on different useful resources to showcasing the work of member organisations and typically include plenty of time for discussion.
In the last six months we have run 12 online events. Three Discussion Forum included presentations and discussion on the changing nature of work and outlining the journey, and some potential issues, for people moving from work to a social welfare payment; two ‘Employment guidance at a time of low unemployment’ online events; one focussing on Pobal HP Deprivation Index; one on ‘Samaritans Ireland’s services and supports’; one on ‘How unemployment is measured’; another showcasing the work of the Department of Social Protection’s Employers Relations Team; and one centred on ‘Income adequacy’. In addition, we ran two Cross-Border online events. Almost 750 people attended across these meetings, with a wide range of organisations from most counties represented.
A notable feature during the last six months has been the number of online events instigated with our unemployed members through our General Branch. Both the ‘How is unemployment measured’ and ‘Income Adequacy’ online events originated from General Branch deliberations.
Our online events are organised through the Zoom platform and are structured as online meetings rather than webinars. As a result, the online events are more participative than webinars, and in addition to allowing people who attend to use the chat facility, they can also raise questions, discussion points and suggestions directly.
The feedback from these online events has been very positive. We know that people attending – and their organisations – welcome the fact that people’s time is taken up solely for the duration of the meeting. They don’t have to travel, for example. Similarly, the opportunity for people to attend online events, who would have been unavailable to attend, due to geographical, time or other constraints if these were in-person events, have been consistently highlighted. We also recognise however, that not having the opportunity to meet face-to-face, to follow up with others on an interesting piece of work or information over lunch or at a coffee break, is an aspect that online events cannot replicate.
We are in the process of creating a new webpage on our site, to include brief information and the presentations from the online events.
We are very grateful to everyone who has attended and participated at these online events. We would like to thank the following for their presentations and insights at these recent online events: Martin Quigley and Alana Ryan, Pobal; Nuala Whelan, Maynooth University; Ann Corcoran, Samaritans Ireland; Robert Thornton, MESL Research Centre; and Sinead and Niall Lane, Department of Social Protection.