Inclusive Research Meeting

 On the 11th of June 2009 the Inclusive Research Network held an event in the Radisson Hotel Galway to bring people who took part in the Galway and Dublin workshops together to celebrate & see what research had been done by people in both groups since the workshops ended in February 

The Day began at 10:30am with tea/coffee after everyone had arrived. Then Prof. Roy McConkey from the University of Ulster talked about what the day was about. He said it was about meeting up with others to talk about the research that’s been done as well as a chance to enjoy ourselves.

The hotel provided a great barbeque and everyone that turned up for the event was greeted with a warm and sunny day!

Some of the activities:

Then Steve & Edel talked about what we had achieved so far and asked us what did we think about it? Then we saw a number of presentations including a drama and a DVD presentation on a life story.

Then John O’Dea Chairman of the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies spoke about how he was very impressed by the presentations he’d seen and that they were an example of people who use services telling services providers what they want. He said that in the service he runs in Mayo he listens to the people who use the service and provides the service they want and that is what every service in the National Federation should be doing. He also said that he has told the Government there should be no more cuts to services for people with disabilities.

There was:

• Reports from members about the research they had been doing;
• News about ethical approval issues for researchers;
• Training supporters to be co-researchers;
• A presentation by the group at the NDA conference in October;

Question and Answer booklets were provided at the meeting based on the session outcomes held in Dublin and Galway. These will help the co-researchers carry out a national survey on 'Where We Live'!

Please email Edel at edel.tierney@fedvol.ie or Steve at inclres@tcd.ie for more information about the IRN.  Or look at the National Survey webpage to find out more.

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