merrion street

Joe O’Brien TD, Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development with special responsibility for Community Development and Charities, has welcomed the publication of ‘Community Call - Learning for the Future’ a report by the National and Economic Social Council (NESC).

The Community Call was an unprecedented mobilisation of national government, local government and the community & voluntary sector to support vulnerable people in our communities during the COVID-19 emergency.

NESC has provided us with a very important report which captures the perspective of those who participated in the Community Call. The report will be a very important reference point to help inform the future delivery of community supports to vulnerable groups and individuals within our communities.

Welcoming the report Minister O’Brien said

“This report from NESC really highlights how well we can collaborate locally for the good of our communities in times of extreme crisis. The report helps us to clarify the lessons we learned during the early stages of the COVID crisis and will help us face situations together into the future.“

Minister O’Brien added

“The Community Call has shown us a new way of working, and has really confirmed a shared purpose between local and national government, community and local development, and the volunteer sector.  The combined efforts of everyone went a long way to helping our communities through the worst of the COVID Emergency and I commend everyone who was involved in the local efforts.”

The report will be published today, 26 February and is available on the NESC website, www.nesc.ie