Central Group minutes 2 September 2022

23 September 2022

Minutes of Central Group Meeting – 4th September 2014

The meeting reviewed and discussed progress on the key Claiming Our Future activities currently being pursued.

The Declaration

  • A shortened ‘Call for Ideas’ will be issued along with a toolkit to support individual and organizations to host conversations to develop the ideas and offer ideas as to the steps required to turn aspirations into reality. These will be circulated to the Central Group and to others who have participated in the process in Dublin, Cork and Galway to check for final editing. An artist will be commissioned to work with the group for this initial period.
  • A target launch date of 15th November has been set. This could include a social dimension and a training dimension. It could take place in Dublin, Cork and Galway.
  • The group will present a budget for this launch period.

Income Equality

  • The big challenge is to get a good crowd to the Sam Pizzigati event on Tuesday 16th September from 6pm to 8pm in the Ark in Eustace Street, Dublin. All asked to mobilize contacts around this event. The hall holds 100 and we need to fill it.
  • Next steps are under discussion between Mary and Nina but will await outcomes from the Pizzigati event.
  • One initiative agreed is to commission a report identifying high CEO wages and comparing these to some baseline.
  • Another initiative is to convene the steering group to meet Sam Pizzigati and to identify an agreed strap line for budget related work in the coming month.
  • A budget will be prepared for forthcoming activities.
  • Paula has to withdraw for the next period due to new responsibilities she is taking on.

Democracy

  • This group is currently paused. Anna is discussing ways forward. These could include:
    • Seeing if some members might work over the next period on the declaration or on income issues.
    • Seeing if the group wanted to make a specific input to the Declaration.
    • Continuing to organise meetings to discuss issues of shared concern.

Art of Campaigning

  • Nina and Anna are meeting to identify further activities in this area.

Global Justice/National Anti-Poverty and Equality

  • The post 2015 scenario and framing communications are two possible topics suggested for a future working meeting of these groups.
  • The timing of the meeting will await the outcome of the forthcoming UN meeting on the post 2015 scenario.

Financial Transactions Tax

  • The group is organizing around the visit of David Hillman from the EU campaign on November 4th and 5th. A focus on lobbying political parties might be developed as a centerpiece of this visit. It will also be used to bring together the twenty five organizations that signed up their support for the campaign.

Logistics

Niall and Nina will work at setting up a more immediate control of expenditure and funds in hand.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be in October. Nina to do an audit of times that are not suitable for people before issuing a doodle to set the date. Fixed dates in each month were suggested as a means of making sure that people could stay linked in. Skype meetings were suggested.