Moving Forward
Reset Ireland
Moving Forward
============
The Reset Ireland event scheduled for Dublin on Saturday the 26th and
Sunday the 27th of March 2011 has been cancelled and as of today we
have no plans for further events.
When Declan Elliott and I (Kevin Flanagan) first embarked on Reset
around the time the IMF arrived in Ireland back in November 2010 there
was little on the horizon in terms of a reform movement. We set up
Reset Ireland to address quite specific needs we felt where lacking in
Ireland at that time. Firstly there was a need to bring the different
social movements for change and reform together. Secondly we shared a
vision of Open Government that we did not feel was fully represented
here.
From the outset Reset was well received. The first Reset was announced
on Jan 2nd 2011 and the event was held on the 15th & 16th of Jan at
091Labs in Galway. The Galway event was largely focused on the
important work of bridging the discussion between technical Open
Data/Open Gov folks and on the ground community activists.
One of the original stated aims of Reset was the co-creation of an
action plan to be delivered to the public and representatives in the
run up to the general election. This was really quite ambitious
however the election was called sooner than expected and sadly with
such a limited time frame the critical mass to make this happen was
never achieved.
After the Galway event we set about exploring the possibility of a
follow up in Dublin. We were unable to secure a venue in the short
time before the election and so focused on a post election event.
While we received much good will and support from other activists we
failed to secure a venue fit to requirements in time for the March
event.
From the start Reset was a voluntary effort. At the moment both Declan
and myself have other commitments to attend to and while we will no
doubt continue to be involved in promoting open government we have for
now no further plans for future Reset Ireland events.
The election is over and while the prospects of the new government has
given the Irish people something of a political respite given the
extreme situation we find ourselves in it is unlikely to last very
long.
Throughout this process we have been very lucky to have had the
opportunity to meet with many dedicated activists and advocacy groups.
Their role in Ireland today is a vital counterpoint to the tired
establishment politics of the past and key to ensuring broader citizen
engagement in any future political reform process. We encourage all
who participated in Reset Ireland to continue in their efforts and to
explore and support the growing alternative movements for change.
Special Thanks to Johnnie Moore who travelled from London to
facilitate the Reset event in Galway
and we thank you all for your support
Kevin Flanagan
Declan Elliott
We recommend
Second Republic
Second Republic a citizen led movement dedicated to achieving
political reform in Ireland. Central to this movement is the belief
that reform should not be decided solely by politicians or expert
groups. It must be citizen led. Second Republic proposes the
establishment of a National Convention to deliberate and decide on
what reforms there should be and a referendum on political reform. For
more information, to join the discussions mailing list or to find out
about Second Republic groups in your area see
http://www.2nd-republic.ie http://twitter.com/2ndrepublic/
Reformcard
In partnership with political scientists from politicalreform.ie
Reformcard developed a system for rating political party electoral
manifesto’s for their commitment to reform. Following the election
they continue to develop the political reform scorecard to hold the
new government to account by measuring and rating its progress in
implementation.
http://www.reformcard.com http://twitter.com/reformcard
Republic 2011
In the run up to the election Candice Gordon of Republic 2011 worked
incredibly hard and organised a really great event in Dublin at the
Button Factory which brought candidates together for a much needed
public forum and debate on the hard issues of the day. The event
inspired Niamh Moloughney to do the same in Galway. Where Kevin
Flanagan of Reset gave a presentation on Open Government
http://vimeo.com/resetireland . Both events went down very well and we
hope to see more in future.
http://twitter.com/Republic2011
ITISON
Mark Cantwell of http://www.itison.net set up Eirereal an online video
channel for alternative media and a remix culture take on the
election.
http://twitter.com/itison
http://eirereal.mirocommunity.org/
Open Data Ireland List
A community list for discussion of Open Data and Open Government
related issues in Ireland.
https://groups.google.com/group/open-data-ireland
OpenData.ie
An online resource for Irish Open Data advocates.
TheStory.ie
Journalist Gavin Sheridan from thestory.ie is doing an incredible job
as an advocate for greater transparency, freedom of information and
openness in Irish politics.
http://thestory.ie/ https://twitter.com/gavinsblog
Contact.ie
Mark Conroy setup http://wwww.contact.ie a website which makes it easy
to find and contact your political representatives. He is also an
advocate of the Robin Hood Tax on financial transactions
http://www.rht-ireland.org which has received some support recently on
an EU level.
“MEPs vote in favour of ‘Robin Hood’ transaction tax”
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2011/0309/1224291667964.html
International Projects
Icelandic Modern Media Initiative
Making Iceland a 21st century haven for transparency and freedom of expression
Jackie Queally
Many thanks for sending me your announcement- I was going to attend the March event and was wondering what was going on. I am sure that despite not being at the stage of fully functioning as a project embodying values you hold dear, your work has been unfolding in the ether and affecting the whole.
I am slightly sad I won't be able to meet with like-minded in a local venue in the near future= however I fully understand your decision and wish you all the best
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Martha Higgins
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Martha
niamh moloughney
Irish Free Gaza Movement Coordinator
085-7747257/091 472279
www.freegaza.org
www.irishshiptogaza.org