The Global Irish Civic Forum seeks to bring together representatives of the multitude of organisations working with the Irish diaspora around the world to share ideas and to discuss issues of common concern.
The Forum is part of the comprehensive approach of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, led by its Irish Abroad Unit, to working with the Irish abroad and engaging the diaspora under the five pillars set out in Global Irish:
Ireland’s Diaspora Policy –supporting the diaspora, connecting with the diaspora, facilitating diaspora engagement, recognising the diaspora, and evolving diaspora policy.
The theme of the 2017 Civic Forum was ‘Communities, Connections, Conversations‘ and it provided an opportunity for those supporting the Irish diaspora abroad to come to Dublin to discuss their work with these communities and engage with Government.
The Forum was a mixture of plenary discussions and workshops, with speakers primarily from Irish diaspora organisations and also from Government, technology companies and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
This second Civic Forum attracted significant attention with more than 220 individuals, representing over 150 organisations, attending over the two days.
Attendance at the Civic Forum was open to all organisations working with Irish communities abroad. In many cases these organisations are also receiving funding under the Irish Government’s Emigrant support Programme.
Irish in Britain contributed a submission to the 2017 Forum based on the results of a survey carried out among its member organisations asking them to express their views on the key problems they faced in maintaining services for their local community.
Civic Forum Information Materials
View the Detailed Civic Forum Programme here.
View the organisations attending the Civic Forum here.
View Global Irish – Ireland’s Diaspora Policy here
View the Presidential voting rights summary document
View the full options paper on extending Presidential voting rights
View the Global Irish Communication Handbook
Read the full Report of the 2017 Forum here and watch the highlights in this short video here.