1 in 8 people in Ireland live in a one-parent family (Census 2011)

• 567,311 persons out of a general population of 4,588,252.

1 in 4 (25.8%) families with children in Ireland is a one-parent family (Census 2011)

• 215,315 lone parent families out of 834,266 families with children.

• We previously reported 1 in 6 families in Ireland were one-parent families from the 2006 census data; however this was counting couples who had no children. Normative conceptions of family presuppose the presence of children and including couples, whether married or not, in the calculation is potentially misleading. Therefore we have calculated the above 1 in 4 figure using a base of all families with children in Ireland.

Over half a million people live in one-parent families in Ireland (Census 2011)

• 567,311 persons
• 29,031 lone fathers as opposed to 186,284 lone mothers.

13.5 per cent of one-parent families are headed by a father (Census 2011)

 1 in 5 (21.7%) children live in a one-parent family (Census 2011)

• 351,996 children in one-parent families, out of a national total of 1,625,975 children.

Programme for the launch of Monitoring Integration in Dublin City

Co-hosted by The Integration Centre
and the Office for Integration, Community and Enterprise Section, Dublin City Council

One Family is Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families. We provide expert support to people parenting alone or sharing parenting and their children through our services, our life-long learning and welfare to work programmes.

We are compiling a panel of tutors/trainers(from across Ireland) to assist us in delivering our FETAC accredited programmes which cover personal and professional development; career planning; employability; communications; work experience; study skills and learning management; positive parenting; family communications; shared parenting and Dad’s workshops.  It is essential that you are able to demonstrate that you are educated to level 7 NFQ or equivalent; are an accredited facilitator (level 6 or above); or can demonstrate tutor and/or teaching proficiency. You must be able to clearly demonstrate the following competences:

Essential:

• Planning and enabling learning
• Principles and practice of assessment
• Equality and diversity
• Understanding  challenges for those parenting alone
• Teaching and learning in the lifelong learning sector.

Desirable:

• Delivering employability skills
• Evaluating learning programmes
• Understanding  motivation
• Understanding  challenges for those parenting alone

If you are interested in tendering and would like to join our panel please complete the form attached asap by Friday, 30 March and return to: Stuart Duffin, One Family, Cherish House, 2 Lower Pembroke Street, Dublin 2 or email sduffin@onefamily.ie. Stuart can also be contacted on 01 662 9212 if you want an informal discussion before submitting. Interviews will take place in the week beginning of 23 April.

Or alternatively you can download an application form

Download here [download]Application for tender[/download]

Return to Stuart Duffin

Email: sduffin@onefamily.ie

Thank you.

Great news – One Family Director Karen Kiernan has been shortlisted for a Women Mean Business Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award, particularly in recognition of One Family’s work on Child Contact Centres and Family Day. The Awards take place on 26 September in Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel. Good luck Karen!  Here is more information on the Awards http://www.womenmeanbusiness.com/awards/

Jamelia has made a wonderful documentary on Single Mums showing on BBC3, for air times see http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0140p9n. Our Director Karen Kiernan has been speaking about social welfare fraud and lone parents on TV3’s Ireland AM at http://www.tv3.ie/ireland_am.php?video=39558&locID=1.65.74 in response to a very poor article in the Irish Daily Mail on the issue on Tuesday. Finally One Family was mentioned in the Irish Times where advice was being given to a separated woman who wants to get back to work, see more at http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2011/0831/1224303229511.html

For all this information and more follow us on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OneFamilyIreland

The McCann family

Originally uploaded by One Family Ireland

Congratulations to Sinead Dullaghan who has won the draw for the Family Day 2011 Photo Competition. Here she is with her mother Kathleen and her daughter Rosa at Family Day in Dubln’s Iveagh Gardens. Well done Sinead and a big thank you to EBS who will be sending her out a cheque for €1000. We’d also like to thank everyone who took part in, or showed an interest in, the competition and Family Day itself. By sharing your photos, and by celebrating Family Day with us, you contribute to creating a reflection of Family Day across Ireland – a day for celebrating families, big or small, in all their diversity – so thank you and remember – there’s always next year!

Firebrand Productions and Clinical Psychologist, David Coleman is currently developing a three part series examining bullying in Ireland.

The producers are looking for parents and teenagers who have been affected by bullying to take part in the series. David hopes to spread the message throughout Ireland amongst parents and their children, that they can stand up to bullies and that there are solutions to this very distressing problem.

David will offer counselling and teach practical steps to help pre-teens and teens gain perspective on their experience and find ways to build their self esteem.  David will work with the participants over a six month period to help them move on from this negative period. (more…)

At the launch of One Family’s Strategy 2010-2012 and Annual Report 2010 at Dublin Castle, Breffny Morgan, Star of TV3’s Apprentice, spoke about his own positive experiences being brought up in a one-parent family,  ‘I consider myself the proud product of a single-parent family. My hope is that others raised in similar circumstances can relate to that sense of pride.’ Breffny went on to give a speech to the many grauduates of One Family’s innovative Welfare to Work Programmes, who were receiving the certificates of completion of Fetac and other courses.

Following a HSE report which found that over a third of women describe their pregnancy as a crisis pregnancy, One Family announced a 10% increase in demand for its Welfare to Work services. ‘These Welfare to Work services support lone parents, some of whom have experienced a crisis pregnancy, into sustainable employment, ‘explained Karen Kiernan, Director of One Family, ‘Access to education and careers are vital gateways to move families out of poverty. Our courses show parents what is possible in their lives – and then support them to make the necessary changes to get there.’

The administrative arrangements for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance in 2011 are different from the arrangements in previous years. This year most of the process will be automated. This means that you may not need to fill out an application form for the payment. If you qualify you will get a letter from the Department of Social Protection in mid-June telling you how and when the payment will be made. The Department expects that over 80% will get the Allowance automatically.  These payments will issue from the end of June 2011. If you do not qualify automatically you must apply in the normal way (see below). (more…)

Today is UN International Day of the Family, an annual celebration of the diversity of families and family life across the    world. To mark the day One Family and EBS Building Society came together to celebrate Irish families and family diversity by hosting The Family Day picnic in Iveagh Gardens, a free event with entertainment for all the family. Hundreds of families joined the fun for Family Day by either attending the picnic in Iveagh Gardens or by hosting their own event with their family to mark the day. All families who registered for Family Day are still in with a chance to win €1,000 by simply submitting a photograph from their ‘Family Day’ to www.familyday.ie. Pictured enjoying the fun today were Hunzah Alraqi(5) and Shafeeq Alraqui taking part in the wheelbarrow race, Jamie Duffy (2) with Twinkle Toes the owl from Dublin Zoo and Rocio & Belen Gonzalez (3) enjoying the face painters. Thanks to everyone who has helped to make Family Day such a huge success.

Thanks to Bonnie Brady and Brian O’Connell for talking about parenting alone and Family Day and the need for acceptance of family diversity on TV3’s This Morning, starts 24 mins in Weds 11 May.

http://bit.ly/lj1MZJ

And – here’s a good piece with One Family Director Karen Kiernan on Family Day in Metro Herald – page 18/19 http://e-edition.metroherald.ie/2011/05/11/

Hope you are all set for Family Day, Sunday 15 May? There’s a good piece in today’s Herald about it and about family diversity and the need to embrace all types of families. Dont forget to join us from 1pm to 5pm in the Iveagh Gardens, Dublin 2 for a Family Picnic or why not organise your own event and be in with the chance to win €1000*? More information about Family Day 2011 can be found here or to read the article in the Herald, click here

Thanks to everyone who came along to hear Dr Brenda Flanagan’s inspiring talk at One Family. Brenda is one of the US’s premier women writers, and a cultural ambassador, she talked about Accomplishing your Goals as a Single Parent. Everyone was touched, moved and inspired by her story – how she achieved her own success, both as a writer and as a parent, and her secret advice for would-be writers or anyone who needs to juggle life’s demands with their own dreams – get up at 4am! See here for more information.

We are proud to say that One Family Director, Karen Kiernan, is a judge for the 2011 Chambers Ireland Corporate Social Responsibility Awards. These awards aim to recognise the work being carried out by companies in Ireland in helping to improve the lives of their employees and enhance the civic environment in which they operate. If you think that your company or a company you are familiar with should enter, invite them to apply here on or before 12pm, Thursday May 5th

We have just printed One Family Matters – our annual newsletter where we keep you up to date with the latest news affecting one-parent families and what we have been up to at One Family. Please download One Family Matters and pass on to anyone else who might be interested. Thanks!

Apprentice candidate Breffny Morgan wrote an incredibly moving and positive piece about being brought up in a one-parent family – his mum was a lone parent – it was in The Irish Independent – read it here and please spread the news Breffny Morgan on Single Parents

Reminder – a Census of Population will take place in Ireland on April 10 next and everyone who is in Ireland on that night must be included in the census. It is important for us all as a society that everyone is included and that correct information is collected. If you represent a group or community, it is also important that they themselves are included so that full account will be taken of them and their needs when decisions are being made for the future.

For further information and to see the answers to some of the most frequently

asked questions www.census.ie or call the CSO on 01-8951304.

Concerned about how to introduce a new partner to your kids? Read our advice here from One Family Childcare and Parenting coordinator, Ger Kelly Parenting Tips

Listen back to One Family Director Karen Kiernan on The Last Word, Thursday 27 January, debating Prof Ed Walsh on lone parents, DNA testing, poverty and a whole lot more http://audiostore.todayfm.com/player/thursday.html Go to Part 2 and the debate starts at about 41 mins.

Parenting alone can be a costly business and leave little time for pampering yourself, but, RTE’s fashion series Off The Rails are looking for candidates. You get the makeover,  €500 worth of clothes and travel expenses – so it’s a great idea if you’re in a ‘New Year, New Me’ kind of mood.  Email offtherails@rte.ie Or see www.rte.ie/tv/offtherails

Christmas is a wonderful time to celebrate with your family. But for one-parent families it can bring extra pressures – whether it’s money worries, contact issues, or making sure you have a good time yourself. See One Family’s tips on how to get through Christmas in today’s Irish Times piece http://bit.ly/dQUUFO and also see our Survival Guide for how to make Christmas 2010 a great one https://onefamily.ie/christmas-survival-guide

http://bit.ly/dQUUFO

Candy Murphy, One Family Policy Director, speaks up for one-parent families on RTE One TV’s Prime Time in response to Budget 2011 – see this link – Candy starts at 8 minutes 54 seconds in – http://bit.ly/eMpeAX

Handel’s Messiah is the perfect compliment to the festive weather and The Culwick Choral Society were in fine voice last night. The show starts again at 8pm tonight, 2 December, at St Patrick’s Cathedral. Tickets €30 at the door, supporting one-parent families. Please spread the word. The Cathedral will be warm and toasty, the atmosphere will be uplifting and you will be glad you made the effort.