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Who We Are


EAPN Ireland

Established in 1990, the European Anti-Poverty Network Ireland is a network of groups and individuals working against poverty. It is the Irish national network of the European Anti Poverty Network (EAPN Europe), which has two decades of experience in lobbying for progressive social change at European level.

EAPN Ireland supports a network of over two hundred local, regional and national organisations and individuals’ committed to tackling poverty through a range of actions including community development, policy analysis and lobbying, campaigning and participation. EAPN Ireland aims to build the capacity of its membership to engage with national and European policy making through training, information dissemination, collective action and networking.

Campaigns that EAPN Ireland has worked on in the last number of years include the 2010 European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, Ireland in Social Europe: Challenging Perceptions and Changing Realities, the European Minimum Income Campaign, European Parliament Awareness Project, the Social Aspects of the Lisbon Treaty, and campaign to include poverty targets in the European 2020 strategy. EAPN Ireland has also worked with members at local level to retain capacity and fight cutbacks to existing services, and with associates at national level through campaigns like the Poor Can’t Pay, the Equality and Rights Alliance, Is Feider Linn, and the Community Platform.

Staff

Anna Visser,  Director (Maternity Leave)

Anna is Director of EAPN Ireland. Before joining EAPN Ireland in January 2008,  Anna worked as Senior Policy Officer for the European Network against Racism (ENAR) in Brussels.  Anna has worked in policy and development roles in the statutory and NGO sectors at regional, national and international level, in the areas of anti-racism, equality, human rights and conflict resolution.  Anna is a member of the steering committees of the Community Platform and the Equality and Rights Alliance, and a board member of the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland.

Aiden Lloyd, Director (Acting)

Aiden Lloyd is the acting Director of the European Anti-Poverty Network Ireland and a board member of the Society of Cooperative Development Studies Ireland (CDSI). Previously, Aiden was the national community development & equality coordinator with Pobal, an organisation that manages social inclusion and equality programmes on behalf of Government and the European Union. He is involved in a range of community development, local development and regeneration initiatives in Ireland.

Paul Ginnell, Policy & Support Worker

Paul is a Community Worker and has been the Policy and Support Worker with EAPN Ireland since 2005. Paul’s role is to support people experiencing poverty and social exclusion and their organisations, many of which are members of EAPN Ireland, to understand and to contribute to policy making in Ireland and the EU. Before coming to EAPN Ireland Paul was Coordinator of an EQUAL Community initiative in Co. Westmeath and before that worked with the Limerick Travellers Development Group and the Irish Traveller Movement. He previously worked in Kenya with an organisation representing people with disabilities.

Mark Byrne,  Communications Officer

Mark is the Communications Officer and is responsible for communicating the work of EAPN Ireland to the media, to members, to policy makers and other interested stakeholders. Mark is responsible for implementing the communications strategy for the 2010 Year for Combating Poverty & Social Exclusion, for planning and monitoring campaigns, and media and public engagement. Before joining EAPN Ireland, Mark worked as a Communications Officer with the Higher Education Authority and as a Communications and Research Assistant to Senator Dominic Hannigan. Mark has a BA in Journalism from DCU and an MA in Public Affairs & Political Communication from the Dublin Institute of Technology.

Helen McHugh,  Project Coordinator

Helen is the Project Coordinator at EAPN Ireland and she is responsible for all administrative aspects of our work. Helen coordinates administrative, financial and reporting procedures under the EC Awareness Project. Before joining EAPN Ireland, Helen worked for five years as a financial advisor to Addiction Response Crumlin where she was responsible for the financial oversight of four projects. Helen previously worked in First Data as a Project Coordinator.

Aine Walsh, Policy & Campaigns Intern

Aine is the policy and campaigns intern at EAPN Ireland and is responsible for supporting the policy and comunication functions of EAPN Ireland. Before joining EAPN Ireland, Aine worked for the European Commission in both the Internal Market and Research and Innovation departments. Aine has an MA in Law from University College Dublin and a degree in Law and European Studies from University of Limerick.

Management

EAPN Ireland is controlled by its members through Annual General Meetings, which decide policy and elect a Managing Board. The Board is responsible to the members for the day-to-day management of the organisation EAPN Ireland. European Anti Poverty Network Ireland Ltd, is a company limited by guarantee not having a share capital, registered in Dublin, Ireland with registered company number 214663.

Board members elected in March 2010 are:


Annual reports