From 2008-2009 the author was commissioned by AONTAS in partnership with Irish Aid to carry out a piece of research which aimed to examine how there could be a strategic focus on the integration of development education, or incorporating a global dimension to learning, into adult and community education in Ireland. It also examined whether or not…

Two decades ago an adult who was innumerate and illiterate was considered to be at a great disadvantage in terms of navigating the challenges of individual personal growth and in terms of being able to participate actively in public life. However, today adults who are computer illiterate are considered to be at a similar disadvantage. The sad…

Within the course of a decade Ireland has emerged from being a country of emigration to a country of immigration. Since the mid-1990s, Ireland has undergone rapid economic expansion with the recent economic growth resulting in approximately 252,000 migrants entering Ireland over the last 6 years, according to the Irish Times (2003). While a large…

This article explores the global dimensions of citizenship. By way of contextualising the discussion, the authors describe a component of a course that was designed to introduce students to the lives of people they may otherwise never have had an opportunity to encounter. The authors' challenge, as they saw it, was to reveal the humanity,…

The independent Democracy Commission was established in June 2003 as a result of two think-tanks, Action for Social Change (TASC) in Dublin and Democratic Dialogue in Belfast. It was set up to consider the capacity of Irish Democracy to be inclusive, participatory and egalitarian in the twenty first century. Seeking to engage with a broad cross…

Annually a little over 2,000 young people leave school in Ireland without any formal qualification (i.e. before taking the Junior Certificate). Indeed, according to the National Economic and Social Forum (NESF) an estimated 1,000 pupils do not transfer annually from primary to post primary education. More often than not educational disadvantage is…

Research in Canada on the learning needs of older people looked at such issues as how to cope with changes in society, the need to make a contribution and the need to be influential. The White Paper on Adult Education "Learning for Life" notes that strategies for active ageing stress the critical importance of access to learning as a key tool in…

The Education Equality Initiative (EEI) has been established by the Department of Education and Science in an attempt to address educational disadvantage through the strategic allocation of funding to promote equality of access, treatment and outcomes within a lifelong learning framework for individuals and groups. The aim of this initiative is to…

This article deals with the role of Irish Higher Education (HE) in the context of the promotion of citizenship. It examines the circumstances in which Irish Higher Education currently operates in terms of access and participation with particular reference to the recent OECD Report (2004), "Review of Higher Education in Ireland". The article will…