Community Wealth Building on the political agenda in Ireland, North and South

The last few weeks have seen political discussions of Community Wealth Building move up the agenda in Ireland, North and South.  The twenty-fifth anniversary of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that brought an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland was marked by a high profile state visit to Ireland by U.S. President Joe Biden, who has also appointed Joe Kennedy III as U.S. Special Envoy to Northern Ireland for Economic Affairs as part of a U.S. diplomatic effort to support re-establishment of the institutions of devolved government using the prospect of increased investment.  High-level government talks during the visit by U.S. officials included discussions of Community Wealth Building as part of the economic development strategy for Northern Ireland.

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Against this backdrop, and in the context of ongoing economic pain and difficulty arising from the current economic model in Ireland (North and South), Irish political conversations about Community Wealth Building have been on the rise.  In March 2023 I, together with TDC trustee Martin O’Neill, visited Belfast, Cork, and Dublin for meetings with political leaders and community groups, in collaboration with Trademark Belfast, the anti-sectarian unit of the Irish labor movement. 

In Belfast, meetings included a sit down with senior figures in Sinn Féin, a lunch with officials from the Northern Ireland Department for Communities, as well as a visit to the Upper Springfield Road neighborhood to discuss the efforts of Glór na Móna to build community wealth hand in hand with promotion of the Irish language.  In Cork, O’Neill spoke on a panel on Community Wealth Building at the Irish Labour Party’s 2023 conference.  In Dublin, Guinan and O’Neill met with policy staff for the Social Democrats, and were also hosted at Leinster House by Sinn Féin Senator Paul Gavan for a well-attended discussion with Irish parliamentarians and their policy staff.

Community Wealth Building now increasingly features in the policy programs of progressive political parties in Ireland; in the near future TDC will be engaging in trainings and workshops in Ireland to do what we can to help further advance this discussion.