The 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or Conference of the Parties (COP) of the UNFCCC is the upcoming 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, to be held in Belém, Brazil, from 10 to 21 November 2025. Our research and policy analyst Michelle Murphy briefly sets out what COP 30 is all about and what outcome is hoped for.  UN Climate Change Conference - Belém, November 2025 Delivering a Just Transition for Ireland: policy options

Steven O’Connell is the founder of Football Cooperative, an award winning social enterprise that places recreational football as a hook to bring men together to get active delivering positive health outcomes. Through a place based model, Football Cooperative incorporates a network of recreational football sites and volunteer Game Coordinators that lead out weekly games year round. Games provide an opportunity for flexible, inclusive, and team based physical activity to form new friendships, share rich game experiences with a competitive edge.   In 2021, Steven led Football Cooperative to form an enterprise academic partnership with South East Technological University that measured the reach and impact of games following the principles of social return on investment. The social value of Football Cooperative was calculated to be for every €1 invested returned a social value of €17.60. As a result of this overwhelming evidence, Steven has engaged multiple key stakeholders to begin scaling up the initiative’s impact to more communities nationally. Steven chats with us about the power behind a game of football and how it is changing lives.    Website: www.footballcooperative.ie Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/footballcooperative/ Movember - The Real Face of Men's Health Report Ireland 2025     

Our 2024 Annual Social Policy Conference was on the theme of ' Managing Change to Build a Just Society'. Ireland is going through several major transitions, each of which is only going to deepen with time. While much is changing, many of the problems facing our society are long-standing: inequality, poverty, and under-investment in our social infrastructure remain major challenges. Although the economy in Ireland has experienced record growth since the pandemic, infrastructure and services in areas such as housing, healthcare and public transport are far below the levels and standards that would be expected in a normally functioning society. Matthew Donoghue is an Assistant Professor of Social Policy, in the School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice, University College Dublin.  Matthew presented his paper at our 2024 Annual Social Policy Conference.  All videos, papers and presentations for the 2024 Annual Social Policy conference are available for download HERE.  

Dearbháil is the Chief Executive Officer of AONTAS, the National Adult Learning Organisation. AONTAS is an all-island membership based advocacy organisation that was established in 1969. Dearbháil is a passionate advocate and educator who has taught in Community, Further and Higher Education. In 2022, she received a DCU Alumni Award, and she was previously shortlisted for Excellence in Academic Teaching. Dearbháil is undertaking her PhD in Maynooth University looking at working-class women's experiences in adult and community education. She believes that adult learning is the greatest tool for creating positive social change. Dearbháil chats about what adult and community education is, what it delivers for individuals and communities and AONTAS recent campaigns and research findings.   AONTAS Publications Community Education: Local, Lifelong, Life Changing Campaign 2025 Learn more at www.aontas.com     

John Barry is Professor of Green Political Economy in the Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action at Queens University Belfast.  John delivered his paper, 'Just transition: a conflict transformation approach' at our 2023 Annual Social Policy Conference - A Just Transition - Conference Videos and Papers  

Liffey Partnership was established as a response to long term unemployment and poverty. They host and support a wide range of programmes dedicated to employment, education, community, enterprise, parenting, health and wellbeing. The mission is to bring people together to work for a fair and just society for all, aiming to strengthen bonds between individuals and communities and providing a path for diverse voices to be heard, respected, and celebrated.  Anne Fitzgerald, Chief Executive Officer and Triona O'Sullivan, Health & Inclusion Programmes Manager discuss their recent report - Spinning Plates: Addressing Food Poverty in Cherry Orchard and Ballyfermot.  2025 Spinning Plates Summary Report 2025 Spinning Plates Food Poverty in D10 Full Report Pobal HP Deprivation Index  

Our 2024 Annual Social Policy Conference was on the theme of ' Managing Change to Build a Just Society'. Ireland is going through several major transitions, each of which is only going to deepen with time. While much is changing, many of the problems facing our society are long-standing: inequality, poverty, and under-investment in our social infrastructure remain major challenges. Although the economy in Ireland has experienced record growth since the pandemic, infrastructure and services in areas such as housing, healthcare and public transport are far below the levels and standards that would be expected in a normally functioning society. Seán Ó Riain is Professor of Sociology at the National University of Ireland Maynooth.   His research interests are in the sociology of work and employment, comparative political economy, inequality and social change and the global information economy.   Seán is the author of: The Politics of High Tech Growth: Developmental Network States in the Global Economy (Cambridge, 2004)  The Rise and Fall of Ireland’s Celtic Tiger: Liberalism, Boom and Bust (Cambridge, 2014) and co-editor of The Changing Worlds and Workplaces of Capitalism (Palgrave, 2015).   He was PI for New Deals in the New Economy, a five year study of workplace bargains in Europe (www.maynoothuniversity.ie/newdeals), funded by a European Research Council Consolidator Grant.  He was a member of the National Economic and Social Council from 2011 to 2017.    Seán presented his paper at our 2024 Annual Social Policy Conference.  All videos, papers and presentations for the 2024 Annual Social Policy conference are available for download HERE. Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses. Our podcast is featured as a Best Social Justice podcast on MillionPodcasts - a hand-curated database of amazing podcasts.     

Lots of Summer Blockbuster reading! Research and Policy Analysts, Michelle and Susanne briefly chat initial takes on the National Development Plan Review and the Summer Economic Statement.   Summer Economic Statement 2025 National Development Plan Review 2025 Report on Stakeholder Engagement and Emerging Themes on Infrastructure Budget 2026 Tax Strategy Group papers NPF Implementation: Housing Growth Requirements

Social Justice Ireland has long advocated that Government should commit to benchmarking core social welfare rates to average earnings to protect vulnerable households. This 10 minute lesson explains why.  Our podcast is featured as a Best Social Justice podcast on MillionPodcasts - a hand-curated database of amazing podcasts. 

Fairness must be at the centre of Budget 2026.  We are wealthier than at any time in our history, and yet almost 630,000 people are living below the poverty line, 190,000 of whom are children. Over 15,500 people are in emergency homeless accommodation.   Now is the time for Government to show ambition in delivering on its promises by running a progressive budget, properly funding public services and infrastructure and investing in policies that will make a positive difference to people and communities. This episode is a listen back to our Budget Choices 2026 launch. Download the full policy briefing, or take a look at the video HERE. 

Dr. Mamobo Ogoro is a Social Psychologist, Scholar, Broadcaster and multi-award winning social entrepreneur. Mamobo’s PhD research focused on migrant identity and how systems of inclusion and exclusion impact belonging for migrant communities. As a result, she founded, and acts as the CEO of GORM, an award winning social enterprise on a mission to unify across differences and advance belonging for marginalised communities through intercultural media and education. Mamobo is an avid conversationalist and sits as the youngest presenter on NewstalkFM, hosting the show ‘Younified’. Mamobo has been heralded for her work with GORM on countless occasions. In 2024 she was listed as the first Echoing Green Fellow in Ireland (Previous fellows include Michelle Obama and Van Jones), and most recently won “Female Entrepreneur of the Year” Award in the South Dublin Local Enterprise Office Award 2025.  Mamobo spends most of her time working with organisations around the world, helping them develop intercultural leaders. She chats with us about belonging, culture, integration, community, story, journeying from tolerance to acceptance and explains peach and coconut countries! https://www.gormmedia.com/unified-business-programme    https://www.gormmedia.com/programmes/the-wideshot 

The Programme for Government (PfG)- Securing Our Future, published in January 2025, outlines a series of commitments made by Government across a range of policy areas. Social Justice Ireland welcomed the PfG and believes that it contains several policies and proposals that, if resourced and implemented, would represent a significant step to creating a fairer and more just Ireland. These policies would make a positive difference to society, to our wellbeing and to our communities. However, the programme also contains several causes for concern with a lack of real ambition around poverty and income adequacy and a lack of policy coherence in other areas. Read the publication and watch the full webinar HERE. Our podcast is featured as a Best Social Justice podcast on MillionPodcasts - a hand-curated database of amazing podcasts. 

William Welser IV is Chief Executive Officer, Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder of Lotic.ai. As a passionate, curious, and creative technologist, he is dedicated to generating visions for the future that are big, bold, and fearless. In his roles at Lotic, he directs innovation, technology infrastructure, and user experiences. William has tackled, communicated, and solved complex problems throughout his career using storytelling, multidisciplinary teams of experts, and state of the art methods and technologies. He has a rich history with organizations like the RAND Corporation, where he tackled some of society’s tough challenges, like bias in AI and the evolution of tech landscapes. His efforts have consistently been about bridging tech with social justice, crafting a future where initially impossible ideas become realities and grounded in economic fairness.  William chats with us about wealth, wealth inequality and using data and AI to ultimately create value and make positive change.  TEDxManhattanBeach - Bill Welser - How to ensure Al is a force for good TEDxPaloAlto - William (Bill) Welser IV - Self-tracking and storytelling to make sense of your world Our podcast is featured as a Best Social Justice podcast on MillionPodcasts - a hand-curated database of amazing podcasts.     

Paul Goldrick Kelly is an economist with the Nevin Economic Research Institute. Paul is a graduate of University College Dublin with a HDIP and MA in Economic Science, Paul's work has examined issues related to healthcare, housing, tax and revenue sufficiency as well as productivity performance in the Republic of Ireland.Paul's current research interests relate to ecological sustainability and political economy, incorporating issuesrelated to Just Transition. Paul presented a paper at our 2023 Annual Social Policy Conference on the theme of A Just Transition.  Watch the conference HERE. 

James Casey is a disability rights activist from the west of Ireland. He previously worked for the disabled person’s organisation ILMI as a policy advisor and prior to this role he worked on the transformative EU Onside Project. He holds a PhD in Critical Disability Studies from the University of Galway, where he was the recipient of a Doctoral Teaching Fellowship and he has presented at UN conferences on behalf of civil society. James, a disabled person, has worked as a lecturer, disability equality consultant and communications advisor in addition to his continued role as a peer reviewer with several international journals.  Prompted by Independent Living Day 2025, Susanne and James discuss what that means in reality and what needs to be delivered by policy makers and Government.   Eurofound - Paths towards independent living and social inclusion in Europe Sage Advocacy - Older Persons in Receipt of Care: Five Human Rights Concerns in Ireland. A Scoping Document    

We launched our socio-economic review for 2025 on Thursday, 3rd April 2025. This annual publication is where we present a detailed analysis of a range of key matters which are central to social justice; a vision of Ireland’s future as a just and sustainable society, and a framework for a new Social Contract to move consistently and coherently towards becoming a just society. It also sets out detailed policy proposals grounded in the common good that will deliver improved wellbeing for everyone in society as we manage demographic, climate, digital and geopolitical changes. In this episode, you can listen back to the presentations from this launch. The full publication is also available to download from our website here.

Marc Ó Cathasaigh is an Educator and SDGs advocate. He was the Green Party T.D. for Waterford in the 33rd Dáil.  Marc chats about his work progressing a Future Generations Commission for Ireland, wellbeing, sustainable development and sufficiency.   Commission for Future Generations Bill 2023 OECD Measuring well-being and progress Understanding Life in Ireland: The Well-Being Framework 2024 CSO Well-being Information Hub

On the 31st January 2024, Social Justice Ireland hosted The Social Justice Movement–A Fifty Year View conference to mark the retirement of Dr Seán Healy and Sr Brigid Reynolds of Social Justice Ireland and to celebrate their more than fifty years of public service in Ireland and Africa. The Opening Address was given by President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins.  More on that event can be found here.   We are delighted that Social Justice Matters has been recognised by Feedspot as one of the 35 social justice podcasts you should be following in 2025. Check out the list here. 

The Shared Island Youth Forum was launched as part of the Government’s Shared Island initiative, in September 2023. The Forum brought together 80 young people aged 18 to 25 from across the island, who met over the next year to develop a statement of their vision and values for a shared future on the island of Ireland. Four members of the Shared Island Youth Forum, Eden Byrne, Tiarnan Moss from Co-Operation Ireland,  Alannah Wrynn and Charlie Beaudelot generously took time out to chat with Susanne Rogers about their experiences in the Youth Form and their work on the Statement.  Read the Vision and Values Statement HERE.  We are delighted that Social Justice Matters has been recognised by Feedspot as one of the 35 social justice podcasts you should be following in 2025. Check out the list here. 

Our 2023 Annual Social Policy Conference was on the theme of 'A Just Transition'. The fundamental principle of a Just Transition is to leave no people, communities, economic sectors or regions behind as we transition to a low carbon future. Such a transition means changing how we travel, communicate, work, what we eat, wear and even the entertainment we consume.  Joe presented his paper at our 2023 Annual Social Policy Conference.  All videos, papers and presentations for the 2023 Annual Social Policy conference are available for download HERE. We are delighted that Social Justice Matters has been recognised by Feedspot as one of the 35 social justice podcasts you should be following in 2025. Check out the list here.