Irish Cancer Society, Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Irish Refugee Council, Citizens information and Irish Hospice Foundation were amongst 50 charities, NGOs and civic society groups that attended an advocacy training workshop for charities ‘Speaking for Ourselves’ hosted by the Voluntary Assistance Scheme of The Bar of Ireland on Thursday 27th September 2018.
‘Speaking for Ourselves’ was established to assist charities and NGOs to develop their advocacy skills and enhance their capacity to communicate as an organisation. The focus of this year’s workshop was on general advocacy skills and also effective engagement with public bodies and the media.
(The Hon. Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell, Sonja O’Connor BL, Cian Ferriter SC, Thomas Ryan, Michael Cush SC, Michelle Grant, Maurice Collins SC.
Addressing the workshop were Michael Cush SC, The Hon. Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell, Maurice Collins SC, Cian Ferriter SC, Michelle Grant, Committee Secretariat- EU and Intl Relations, Houses of the Oireachtas Service, Thomas Ryan, Environment and Infrastructure Executive, Irish Farmers’ Association and Orla O’Donnell, RTE.
Providing guidance on law reform and the legislative process is just one aspect of the pro-bono assistance provided to groups from the voluntary sector by barristers under The Bar of Ireland’s Voluntary Assistance Scheme (VAS). It also provides assistance to charities on a wide range of legal areas including debt and housing, landlord and tenant issues, social welfare appeals, and employment and equality law.
For more information on The Bar of Ireland’s Voluntary Assistance Scheme (VAS) see http://www.lawlibrary.ie/Access-to-Legal-Services/Voluntary-Assistance-Scheme.aspx.
Requests for support through VAS must be made through a voluntary organisation, applications cannot be accepted from individuals. Throughout the process, the organisation remains involved as The Bar of Ireland’s point of contact for that individual.