I went to a talk organised by Galway City Council last week on the subject of Social Inclusion.
The City Council wanted to look at ideas of how disadvantaged people or people who are seen as different can have their needs catered for better within the City.
The Chairman said that people tend to view the words "social inclusion" as dealing mainly with poverty but the term goes beyond poverty to include all forms of social disadvantage.
We split up into smaller groups to discuss reasons why people are excluded and how these problems might be addressed.
There was representation from local groups as well as Councillors.
We talked about whether people see it as a good thing to embrace social inclusion.
What might prevent people from considering others as they go about their daily business? At the minute people are quite preoccupied with themselves, they are worried about their jobs and about being able to put food on the table.
Old Ireland had a great community spirit but nowadays people are more focused on themselves and their own needs.
They tend to forget about other people.
We discussed how disabled people have difficulty with footpaths and access points.
There was a blind lady at the meeting and afterwards I offered to walk down town with her because she expressed concern about roadworks at the bottom of College Road.
Normally she would have managed to walk to the bus stop with the aid of her guide dog but the roadworks caused a problem for her.
Some of the shops in Galway do not have a lift despite being laid out over several floors.
This causes difficulty for disabled people.
Perhaps shopkeepers find it hard to justify the cost of putting one in.
We also discussed different groups and how they need money to do their work.
Whilst a lot of people make donations to cancer and heart charities because they have family members with those type of illnesses it can be much harder to raise money for lesser known charities such as AIDS West.
People's attitudes influence the issue of social inclusion.
A lot of people are still very wary of people that they view as different to themselves and so they may not be inclined to include them.
This applies to Lesbian Gay and Transgendered People too, but the discrimination may not be as overt.
There are also issues such as ageism eg.
an older person who is not familiar with the internet or cannot afford a computer at home may find it hard to access reduced price tickets for the train.
Perhaps the City Council could look into providing training courses for older people/disadvantaged people so that they can have access to these services.
It may be easier for people to include others than they think.
A little bit of consideration goes a long way!
The City Council wanted to look at ideas of how disadvantaged people or people who are seen as different can have their needs catered for better within the City.
The Chairman said that people tend to view the words "social inclusion" as dealing mainly with poverty but the term goes beyond poverty to include all forms of social disadvantage.
We split up into smaller groups to discuss reasons why people are excluded and how these problems might be addressed.
There was representation from local groups as well as Councillors.
We talked about whether people see it as a good thing to embrace social inclusion.
What might prevent people from considering others as they go about their daily business? At the minute people are quite preoccupied with themselves, they are worried about their jobs and about being able to put food on the table.
Old Ireland had a great community spirit but nowadays people are more focused on themselves and their own needs.
They tend to forget about other people.
We discussed how disabled people have difficulty with footpaths and access points.
There was a blind lady at the meeting and afterwards I offered to walk down town with her because she expressed concern about roadworks at the bottom of College Road.
Normally she would have managed to walk to the bus stop with the aid of her guide dog but the roadworks caused a problem for her.
Some of the shops in Galway do not have a lift despite being laid out over several floors.
This causes difficulty for disabled people.
Perhaps shopkeepers find it hard to justify the cost of putting one in.
We also discussed different groups and how they need money to do their work.
Whilst a lot of people make donations to cancer and heart charities because they have family members with those type of illnesses it can be much harder to raise money for lesser known charities such as AIDS West.
People's attitudes influence the issue of social inclusion.
A lot of people are still very wary of people that they view as different to themselves and so they may not be inclined to include them.
This applies to Lesbian Gay and Transgendered People too, but the discrimination may not be as overt.
There are also issues such as ageism eg.
an older person who is not familiar with the internet or cannot afford a computer at home may find it hard to access reduced price tickets for the train.
Perhaps the City Council could look into providing training courses for older people/disadvantaged people so that they can have access to these services.
It may be easier for people to include others than they think.
A little bit of consideration goes a long way!
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