Our 2024 Annual Social Policy Conference was on the theme of ' Managing Change to Build a Just Society'. Ireland is going through several major transitions, each of which is only going to deepen with time. While much is changing, many of the problems facing our society are long-standing: inequality, poverty, and under-investment in our social infrastructure remain major challenges. Although the economy in Ireland has experienced record growth since the pandemic, infrastructure and services in areas such as housing, healthcare and public transport are far below the levels and standards that would be expected in a normally functioning society.

Aoife Ní Lochlainn is Policy and Advocacy Manager at the Irish Environmental Network. 

Aoife presented her paper at our 2024 Annual Social Policy Conference. 

All videos, papers and presentations for the 2024 Annual Social Policy conference are available for download HERE.

The 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or Conference of the Parties (COP) of the UNFCCC is the upcoming 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, to be held in Belém, Brazil, from 10 to 21 November 2025.

Our research and policy analyst Michelle Murphy briefly sets out what COP 30 is all about and what outcome is hoped for. 

UN Climate Change Conference - Belém, November 2025

Delivering a Just Transition for Ireland: policy options

Steven O’Connell is the founder of Football Cooperative, an award winning social enterprise that places recreational football as a hook to bring men together to get active delivering positive health outcomes. Through a place based model, Football Cooperative incorporates a network of recreational football sites and volunteer Game Coordinators that lead out weekly games year round. Games provide an opportunity for flexible, inclusive, and team based physical activity to form new friendships, share rich game experiences with a competitive edge.

In 2021, Steven led Football Cooperative to form an enterprise academic partnership with South East Technological University that measured the reach and impact of games following the principles of social return on investment. The social value of Football Cooperative was calculated to be for every €1 invested returned a social value of €17.60. As a result of this overwhelming evidence, Steven has engaged multiple key stakeholders to begin scaling up the initiative’s impact to more communities nationally.

Steven chats with us about the power behind a game of football and how it is changing lives. 

Website: www.footballcooperative.ie

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/footballcooperative/

Movember - The Real Face of Men's Health Report Ireland 2025 

Our 2024 Annual Social Policy Conference was on the theme of ' Managing Change to Build a Just Society'. Ireland is going through several major transitions, each of which is only going to deepen with time. While much is changing, many of the problems facing our society are long-standing: inequality, poverty, and under-investment in our social infrastructure remain major challenges. Although the economy in Ireland has experienced record growth since the pandemic, infrastructure and services in areas such as housing, healthcare and public transport are far below the levels and standards that would be expected in a normally functioning society.

Matthew Donoghue is an Assistant Professor of Social Policy, in the School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice, University College Dublin. 

Matthew presented his paper at our 2024 Annual Social Policy Conference. 

All videos, papers and presentations for the 2024 Annual Social Policy conference are available for download HERE.

Dearbháil is the Chief Executive Officer of AONTAS, the National Adult Learning Organisation. AONTAS is an all-island membership based advocacy organisation that was established in 1969. Dearbháil is a passionate advocate and educator who has taught in Community, Further and Higher Education. In 2022, she received a DCU Alumni Award, and she was previously shortlisted for Excellence in Academic Teaching. Dearbháil is undertaking her PhD in Maynooth University looking at working-class women's experiences in adult and community education. She believes that adult learning is the greatest tool for creating positive social change.

Dearbháil chats about what adult and community education is, what it delivers for individuals and communities and AONTAS recent campaigns and research findings.  

AONTAS Publications

Community Education: Local, Lifelong, Life Changing Campaign 2025

Learn more at www.aontas.com 

John Barry is Professor of Green Political Economy in the Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action at Queens University Belfast. 

John delivered his paper, 'Just transition: a conflict transformation approach' at our 2023 Annual Social Policy Conference - A Just Transition - Conference Videos and Papers

Liffey Partnership was established as a response to long term unemployment and poverty. They host and support a wide range of programmes dedicated to employment, education, community, enterprise, parenting, health and wellbeing. The mission is to bring people together to work for a fair and just society for all, aiming to strengthen bonds between individuals and communities and providing a path for diverse voices to be heard, respected, and celebrated. 

Anne Fitzgerald, Chief Executive Officer and Triona O'Sullivan, Health & Inclusion Programmes Manager discuss their recent report - Spinning Plates: Addressing Food Poverty in Cherry Orchard and Ballyfermot. 

2025 Spinning Plates Summary Report

2025 Spinning Plates Food Poverty in D10 Full Report

Pobal HP Deprivation Index

Our 2024 Annual Social Policy Conference was on the theme of ' Managing Change to Build a Just Society'. Ireland is going through several major transitions, each of which is only going to deepen with time. While much is changing, many of the problems facing our society are long-standing: inequality, poverty, and under-investment in our social infrastructure remain major challenges. Although the economy in Ireland has experienced record growth since the pandemic, infrastructure and services in areas such as housing, healthcare and public transport are far below the levels and standards that would be expected in a normally functioning society.

Seán Ó Riain is Professor of Sociology at the National University of Ireland Maynooth.  
 
His research interests are in the sociology of work and employment, comparative political economy, inequality and social change and the global information economy.  
 
Seán is the author of: The Politics of High Tech Growth: Developmental Network States in the Global Economy (Cambridge, 2004)  The Rise and Fall of Ireland’s Celtic Tiger: Liberalism, Boom and Bust (Cambridge, 2014) and co-editor of The Changing Worlds and Workplaces of Capitalism (Palgrave, 2015).  
 
He was PI for New Deals in the New Economy, a five year study of workplace bargains in Europe (www.maynoothuniversity.ie/newdeals), funded by a European Research Council Consolidator Grant. 
 
He was a member of the National Economic and Social Council from 2011 to 2017.   

Seán presented his paper at our 2024 Annual Social Policy Conference. 

All videos, papers and presentations for the 2024 Annual Social Policy conference are available for download HERE.

Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses.

Our podcast is featured as a Best Social Justice podcast on MillionPodcasts - a hand-curated database of amazing podcasts. 

Lots of Summer Blockbuster reading! Research and Policy Analysts, Michelle and Susanne briefly chat initial takes on the National Development Plan Review and the Summer Economic Statement.  

Summer Economic Statement 2025

National Development Plan Review 2025

Report on Stakeholder Engagement and Emerging Themes on Infrastructure

Budget 2026 Tax Strategy Group papers

NPF Implementation: Housing Growth Requirements

Social Justice Ireland has long advocated that Government should commit to benchmarking core social welfare rates to average earnings to protect vulnerable households. This 10 minute lesson explains why. 

Our podcast is featured as a Best Social Justice podcast on MillionPodcasts - a hand-curated database of amazing podcasts.