Declaration for a Future Ireland
Inspired by the celebration of the 100 year anniversary of the 1916 proclamation Claiming our Future invited during 2015 people to develop a Declaration for a Future Ireland. The purpose of the Declaration was to present a convincing alternative vision for a Future Ireland to make real the core values of equality, environmental sustainability, participation, accountability, and solidarity.
The development of the declaration over the past year involved many different strands of civil society. These included NGOs working on poverty and social inclusion, migrant rights, global justice and environment as well as groups focused on women, youth and housing. It also included community groups, community arts organizations, think tanks, trade unions and interested individuals. All these many contributions shaped this final version which was adopted at Claiming Our Future’s annual assembly in February 2016. As a result of this extensive and inclusive process we believe that the Declaration is a strong and visionary statement for a fairer, more inclusive and more sustainable Ireland.
We presented the ‘Declaration for a Future Ireland’ to President Higgins at Aras Uachtarain, in March. He warmly acknowledged the vision and values embedded in it and their importance in achieving a just and equal Ireland in the future. This was a great moment in the life of the Declaration initiative. It confirmed the importance of the role of civil society in promoting a values-based society including in the social, cultural, economic, political and environmental domains.
The challenge now is to ensure that the values and ideas in the Declaration become a springboard for building a better Ireland. To make this happen, we ask you to join with us to promote the vision, values and the 21 Guarantees of the Declaration. Find out how you can help promote the Declaration.
Future News
In support of the Declaration we also invited everybody to create Future News. These are short fictional news clips set in an imagined future, when many of the aspirations from the Declaration have been achieved. We held workshops with over 8 groups from a variety of backgrounds that produced fantastic news for the Future!