Inspiration Speaker
The inspirational speaker series has been running for over a year now and in that time, speakers have presented on a variety of topics including debt and money, poverty and fuel poverty, universal basic income, and the real living wage.
The online events are open to the independent advice network as well as to those in wider civic society who are interested the themes under discussion.
The most recent event in the series focused on the impact of Brexit on the daily lives of migrant workers, refugees and asylum seekers. The speaker was Bernadette McAliskey, manager of STEP in Dungannon, but better known as an Irish civil rights leader and human rights defender. Bernadette’s talk provided the audience with a poignant recollection of her own background and how it shaped her lifelong devotion to human rights. She demonstrated the seamless link between her own experience and the rights-based work she does today with migrant workers, refugees and asylum seekers. Brexit is eroding the most basic human rights, not exclusively but predominantly, of people of colour who are often fleeing the consequences of the actions of Western governments, including the British government. Bernadette reminded those of us who give support or advice to these people that we must never forget the rights they should have rather than the rights the government tells us they have.
The next event in the series in planned for the autumn and details will be advertised closer to the time.