Members Spotlight

Profile

Adekunle Gomez is the secretary and programme director of the African Cultural Project (also known as, The Africa Institute in Ireland). The main objective of the African Cultural Project is to provide information on Africa to the Irish public. Through the facilitation of cultural and educational events featuring Africa’s rich and diverse cultural traditions, the project aims to promote an understanding of the African continent and of the countries and people of Africa. The African Cultural Project has collaborated with a variety of institutions throughout the years including the National Concert Hall, the Chester Beatty Library, the Irish Writers’ Centre, the Public Library system, Local Authority Arts Officers, Alliance Française Dublin, University Language departments, and others.

When did your organization/group join the PPN?

African Cultural Project has been an active member of the Dublin City community since joining the Council’s community forum in 1999. It continued this participation by joining Dublin City PPN in 2017.

What was your main reason for joining the PPN?

The Irish Blue Cross animal welfare charity was founded in 1945 by a group of like-minded people determined to prevent the live exportation of Irish horses to the continent for slaughter. It wasn’t long before the group realised that the plight of Dublin’s sick dogs and cats desperately needed to be addressed. The solution came when the first Irish Blue Cross mobile clinic hit Dublin’s streets in 1953, prioritising it’s presence in areas where there was highest demand for charitable veterinary services.

In 2009, our small animal clinic was established with state of the art facilities at our base in Inchicore, Dublin 8. The opening of that clinic, complemented by our mobile clinics, has made an immeasurable difference to so many communities across Dublin and without our support, many families would struggle with providing necessary care and assistance for their pets. Today, our clinic services have expanded to ten locations across Dublin each week day evening, locations such as Cabra, Tallaght, Blanchardstown, Crumlin, Ballyfermot, Ballybrack, Smithfield, Walkinstown, Finglas and Donnycarney. Where pets require more comprehensive clinical examinations and treatments, they are referred to our Inchicore clinic.

TOG hackerspace is a based in Dublin City. It is a shared space where members can have a place to be creative and work on their projects in an environment that is both inspiring and supportive of both new and old technologies. We had our first meeting on the 21st of January 2009 with a group of 17 people, some who had never met before, came together to form a group with the intention of setting up a hackerspace in Dublin. The meeting was great and everyone was full of enthusiasm.

In less than 3 months we had membership coming in from over 20 members and a roof over our head. The space is fully funded by its members and gives members 24/7 access to work on a project or just a place to hang out. 

Victim Support at Court or V-SAC, is the only voluntary service in Ireland dedicated solely to court accompaniment for victims of crime, their families and witnesses. They are at the forefront of delivering a high quality court accompaniment service within the Irish judicial system.

If you have been the victim of a crime, their court accompaniment service can help you while you attend court.

In this spotlight video about V-SAC we speak with three of their volunteer coordinators and volunteers to discuss their roles in supporting victims of crime while they are attending court.