Europe

Should There be a New German-Irish Council?

There has been a recent meeting of German-Irish societies and Irish community organizations to discuss the possibility of establishing a German-Irish council

February 08th, 2019
Eleanor Banks, News from Berlin
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The Embassy posed a questionnaire to further understand the extent of support this German-Irish council would have and it was sent to all the German-Irish societies and Irish community organizations in Germany.

The general results of this questionnaire, which was online for two weeks, suggested that there was definite support for the idea of setting up a new German-Irish council, however there needs to be an emphasis on linking Ireland and Germany, by fostering deeper connections with the German community and cultural organizations in Ireland and creating a platform on which people can connect with Ireland.

Furthermore, the results of the questionnaire suggest the need for a network for Irish community organizations to allow exchange of ideas, establishment of new organizations and planning of events. 79.4 percent of the people suggested that the most important role for the potential German-Irish Council would be to develop connections with the German community and cultural organizations in Ireland. The second most important role was seen to be to promote events of member societies.

Regarding the structure and organization of the council, the most popular view was that there should be a board representing a number of the member organizations who would internally decide how they would be represented at different times. Interestingly, the majority of the respondents argued that a regional-structure to the council would not be helpful.

The majority of the people also regarded the maintaining of a membership database and maintaining and GDPR complaint email circulation list as the most important aspect of administrative work that may arise from a German-Irish council.
We will have to wait and see whether the situation regarding the creation of this new council develops positively.  

References:

News from Berlin