Uncovered Voices

CAN (Clondalkin Access Network) is funded by the Department of Higher and Further Education and is managed by the South Dublin County Partnership and local committee made up of staff from the three schools, St Kevins CC, Deansrath CC and Collinstown CC. The aim of CAN is to support young people to get more out of school so that more of them will progress to vocational, further and higher education. 

The Communiversity is run by Maynooth University and North Clondalkin Library in partnership with CAN and the South Dublin County Partnership. The aim is to encourage adult learners back into education.  

Denise Lakes talks to Ken Ryan about her experience of returning to adult education, doing the Preparation for College Course and completing her degree at TUDubln Tallaght. 

Denise's story is inspirational and worth a listen. 

Nenad Grujic is a mechanical Engineer with over 18 years of experience in Mechanical and Civil Engineering companies in Serbia and Croatia. Communicative and highly organized person with excellent organisation skills. Never afraid to make hard decision and pursuing dreams. Owned the coffee shop. Still enjoy having first coffee with the love of his life. Travel and gym enthusiast. Moved to Ireland in 2019 with big hopes and many ideas. Currently employed in a warehouse while working to put his life back in a track. Aleksandra Grujic is a Getty Images Contributor and copyright owner of the most famous sports photography in the world "Busby Babes last line up". Currently studying at IT Sligo. Her greatest wish is to learn English well enough so that she can start working this year or next as a medical doctor in Ireland, for which she was educated in her native Belgrade. She came to Ireland in 2019. She is Croatian, married and has no children. Enjoys reading, especially Jo Nesbo and Patricia Cornwell books.

Ken Ryan works on the Lifelong Learning Team at the South Dublin County Partnership. Ken is passionate about learning and in this episode he shares some insights into his learning journey. 

How the Communiversity introduces people to higher education

Dr Derek Barter, Department of Adult & Community Education

The Communiversity is a gateway for people to enter higher education, but it’s much more than just another education project or programme. It can be the first point of contact for people who would not normally think of university as a place for them. It can also give them the ability to find out for themselves whether they would like to go further without having to commit to years of study or fees. But it goes further than that and hopefully it gives people the chance to explore just who they are and where they fit in.
How it works is that the participant attends one morning per week in their local library for two to two and a half hours. They take subjects such as local history - which is nearly always the first module as everybody knows something about their only area and it’s a good way to make people comfortable in the course - politics, sociology and philosophy (critical thinking). Other choices include English, economics, geography, community development, youth work and addiction studies. 
 
One of the most unique features of the Communiversity is that it is a real partnership arrangement. It is based on a common purpose which is to provide the participant with an educational and social opportunity that they would never have had before and one that is shared by all three partners. 

Maynooth University provide the lecturers, facilitators and tutors and co-ordinate the programme. Local libraries provide a network of venues around the country that can be used for delivery of the Communiversity programme. The Communiversity pilot project has had very positive feedback from librarians who have experienced the programme in their premises.  In many cases, Communiversity participants are new to library services and continue to use the library when the programme has concluded. Communiversities have been successfully rolled out in Dublin areas which have been identified as having low participation rates in higher education such as Coolock, Darndale, Crumlin, Dolphin’s Barn and Ballyfermot.  Libraries eager to come on board include Ballymun, Blanchardstown, Rush and Swords.  

Find out more about the Communiversity here 

Today we are talking to Grace Hill, head of the Drug and Alcohol Task Force. We are discussing their report of ‘The Landscape of Substance Misuse and it's impact on the communities of Tallaght’ and other drug related issues, and how they impact on the family. 

Here is a link to the report:
https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/35103/1/TDATF_Research_Report-FINAL.pdf

Here are links to two videos related to this topic:

yt5s com Let's Be Blunt Movie - YouTube a video on Cannabis by young people for young people

01 TDATF Main Cut V4 With Titles and Subtitles - YouTube An accompanying video for the report.

The ‘Uncovered Voices’ podcast is dedicated to highlighting the learners voice. Giving learners the opportunity to tell their stories. Today we are talking to a varied group of students. We will be discussing education, learning, the future and what it was like to participate in a course during the pandemic.

We are talking to Patrick Nevin Manager of the Tallaght Travellers Community Development Programme. Patrick has been working for traveller’s rights in several organisations for the last 20 years. In this podcast we will discuss the major issues facing the travelling community historically and in the modern world. How the community has faced systemic bigot and discrimination for decades, the work that has been done and what still needs to be done.

http://tallaghttravellerscdp.com/about-us/

This podcast was recorded a few months back with Susan Scott and Mateja. Susan is a Youth Information Officer at Crosscare Youth Service in Clondalkin and Lucan. At the time Mateja was with the VSI.

Find out more about the ESC programme and sign up with VSI as your sending organisation – we can help you find a project: https://www.vsi.ie/volunteer/european-solidarity-corps.html

You can find all the current ESC opportunities around Europe here: https://europa.eu/youth/go-abroad/volunteering/opportunities_en

Susan Scott – Youth Information Officer at Crosscare Clondalkin Youth Service [email protected] and 086 1304629 https://crosscareyouthinfo.ie/ 

Maria Conte – Communications and Marketing Officer at VSI – [email protected] and 083 0246156 https://vsi.ie

In today's podcast we interview Kenneth Mtetwa and Anthony Duffy.

Kenneth Mtetwa
Kenneth is from Zimbabwe and has lived in Ireland for 5 years. He joined the Clondalkin Global Garden in 2019. He lives with his wife in a Direct Provision center in Clondalkin. He credits Cllr O'Broin for involving him in the Clondalkin Global Garden and Clondalkin Tidy Towns. His hobbies include attending his church, walking, jogging and socialising in the Global Garden.

Anthony Duffy
Anthony is a graduate of Maynooth University, BA community and youth work 2017. Prior to becoming a youth and community worker he travelled around the world learning about different cultures and societies working almost every job under the sun to survive. In his spare time he enjoys playing music with friends, sea swimming and being a pedal power advocate.

You can connect with Anthony at the following social media platforms. 

https://www.instagram.com/green_wheels_duffy/

https://m.facebook.com/pages/category/Community/Global-Garden-Clondalkin-294649504205933/