Welcome to the CIDP Website

Our Mission

The mission of CIDP is to promote core Christian values by working with, enabling and serving the Deaf people of Ireland by

CIDP will pursue its mission by working in partnership with Deaf people, with other organisations working to serve the interests of Deaf people, and with public bodies charged with responsibility to provide services for Deaf people.


Current Developments

Some of the key CIDP activities currently are our participation in the now completed Deaf Village Ireland Project, the proposed amalgamation of St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s schools, the promotion of a new Education policy for the education of Deaf and hard of hearing children, the development of chaplaincy services to the Deaf community and the continued development of the new Centre for Deaf Education. All of these important aspects of CIDP work are described below in summary versions. As well as these critical areas CIDP is managing three residences, two for children and one for vulnerable adults. These residences have seen significant reduction in funding from the HSE and CIDP is struggling to manage the residences to a high standard on substantially reduced income.

Deaf Village Ireland Project


With all the doom and gloom being foisted on us at present it is good to report that the Deaf Village Ireland Project has become a reality.

On Monday the 28th of March 2011 the CIDP Board agreed to appoint John Sisk Ltd; as the contractor to build the Village. CIDP set up a new company Sportsco to manage and deliver the project in June 2011. Work on this €15 million project began in June 2011 and was completed in August 2012. The building of the Deaf Village will be spread over three phases, with Phase one being the most significant and costly. Phase one which began in June 2011 and entails the provision of new sporting, administration, social, educational, heritage and religious facilities. The contract between Sportsco and John Sisk Ltd. was signed in June 2011 and brought to a culmination three years of planning and consultation. While consultation on the detail of the design of the Village has been ongoing for the last three years, prior to that, for a two year period there was significant consultation with the Deaf community on a strategy for CIDP and how CIDP could enable the development of the Deaf community in a manner which did not undermine or patronise the community. The success or not of this strategy will be for others to judge but at least the building of Phase one of the Village ensures that the Deaf community and their organisations have a state of the art place to call home and from which the community can further develop.

The name of the project has always been the Deaf Village and while some within and external to the Deaf community have had a difficulty with the name it has managed to remain the most commonly used description for the project.

CIDP ran a competition in 2011 to see if a more suitable name could be found. The winning entry was the National Deaf Centre. This name emphasises the National element of the project given that many of the tenant organisations (IDSA, IDS, DeafHear.ie, IDYA etc) are national organisations and that the focus of the project is on the Deaf community. Following extensive consultation with the Deaf community, Deaf Village Ireland is now the agreed name.

Apart from the setting up of a company to build the Village a Management Company Committee was set up to manage the new facility once built. This was a representative group of all the Deaf organisations who occupy Deaf Village Ireland. This group designed the setting up of a governance, and management structure for Deaf Village Ireland. The idea is that while CIDP via Sportsco owns the land and buildings (as given to CIDP by the Church), the Village has been handed over to the Deaf community to manage. This has been achieved by the setting up of the Management Company which is a separate legal entity, with a Board of Directors comprised of all the organisations operating from the Village. Given the makeup of the organisations this ensures that the company is a Deaf led company, with ISL as its first language. The Management Company Committee designed Memorandum and Articles of Association which set out the purpose of the Company, the role of the Board of Directors how they are nominated and how they operate the company. This Board controls the Village, employs the Village staff, manages all the rents, insurance and monies and ensures that the Village remains self sufficient. This company was formally set up in June 2012 and registrered with the Companies Office in September 2012. It appointed Damian Barry as it first Chairperson and Sylvia Nolan the first Manager of Deaf Village Ireland.

The plans for Phase one of the Village are attached. Phases two and three will comprise the proposed amalgamation of the Cabra schools and residences for Deaf Boys and Girls and the moving of St. Joseph’s House Brewery road from Stillorgan to Cabra to become part of the Deaf Village, together with new independent living facilities. Another aspect of the Village is the establishment of a Centre for Deaf Education managed jointly by Deafhear.ie, the IDS, CIDP, CDS Trinity College and the Deaf schools. The Centre is now set up and operating with Elizabeth Mathews as its coordinator.

CIDP Statement following the Publication of the Ryan Commission Report

The 2009 Ryan Commission report details the shocking abuse of Deaf children especially in St. Joseph's Institution. The number of cases and the types of abuse indicate that this was endemic in the Institution. Bad as this abuse was, it was compounded by the fact that the children abused were Deaf and without a voice.

It is no consolation to anyone including the victims and the current Board of the Catholic Institute for Deaf People (CIDP) (now the trustees of the Schools and Managers of the Residential Centres), that this happened in a different era and under different Management. It still happened, clearly people knew that children were abused and nothing was done to protect them. To all of those people, the current Management apologises unreservedly.
Read full Statement


Funded by the Ryan Commission CIDP produced a DVD in ISL featuring the three chapters on the Deaf schools and the Executive Summary contained in the Ryan Commission report.To view the ISL translation of the Ryan Commission on the chapters of Beechpark, St. Mary's Cabra, St. Joseph's Cabra and the Executive Summary click here

Upcoming Events

 

 



Ryan Commission Report

Amalgamation

The Amalgamation Review Committee (ARC) agreed the setting up of a Steering Committee to produce an agreed future Education modal of amalgamated school(s). Judith King an independent facilitator was employed to assist in the process and the three unions have joined the ARC. A workplan was agreed for the Steering Committee and this was presented to the ARC in mid December 09 and the staff forum on the 21st of December 09. The workplan and the same initial analysis can be downloaded from this site. The Steering Committee has been meeting regularly since Easter 2010.

The proposed amalgamation process for St. Joseph’s and St. Mary’s schools now completed and the matter will be decided by a special meeting of the CIDP Board in March 2012. The final proposal for the amalgamation is set out on this website. The final proposal of the education plan is currently under discussion.

Management and Structure
In respect of the Management model for the school(s) discussions to date have favoured a situation where there would be one special Primary school with its own Principal and one Secondary (top) school with its own Principal. It is planned that CIDP would remain as trustees of the school under the patronage of the Archbishop of Dublin and that the Primary and Secondary (top) would be managed by a single Board of Management (as is currently the case individually in both schools). This means that the outcome from the favoured management model is one special school but divided into Primary and Secondary sections each with a separate Principal teacher. This proposal may raise some technical concerns regarding the Education Act, which envisages one Principal attending each Board of Management meeting with that Principal having the authority to act on behalf of the Board of Management.

The only recommended change therefore to the current model is that the Primary and the Secondary top school would be amalgamated to cater for girls and boys together, each school section would have a separate Principal, both of whom would be part of a single Board of Management. The figures used for the model set out below are on the basis of the understanding that there would initially be circa 45 Primary students and 105 Post Primary and PLC students by September 2014.

Location
No decision has been made in relation to the location of the school(s), but the current thinking favours the separation of the Primary and Secondary sections and buildings. In this scenario the use of the Marian site for the Primary school (and the Centre for Deaf Education and Preschool) and either the Rosary or St. Joseph’s site for the location of the Secondary (top) school would seem appropriate. A formal building survey has been undertaken using the official standards set out by the Department of Education and Skills. The formal building survey indicates that if the current favoured Model was used, the combination and upgrading of Marian school and St. Joseph’s school would cost €3.15 million and the combination and upgrading of Marian and Rosary schools would cost €4.5 million. On top of this the amalgamation and upgrading of the residences on either the St. Joseph’s site or the Rosary site would cost €1.4 and €2.2 million respectively.

The paper identifies the subjects and the subject teachers required, the role of post leaving certificate courses, and the possible availability of positions in the Centre for Deaf Education, Preschool and Deaf/Blind unit. The paper also sets down the types of facilities which will be required to ensure that the school(s) are best suited to the needs of Deaf and hard of hearing children.

Eoin O'Mahony's summary report
Presentation to Parents in Schools
Draft Terms of Reference
Letter on New Committee
ARC Members
Contact Details Form
Analysis of Parental Questionnaire
Minutes of the Amalgamation Review Committee Meeting, Dec 2008
Minutes of the Amalgamation Review Committee Meeting, Feb 2009
Minutes of the Amalgamation Review Committee Meeting, March 2009
Minutes of the Amalgamation Review Committee Meeting, May 2009
Minutes of the Amalgamation Review Committee Meeting, May 2009
Minutes of Amalgamation Review Committee meeting - September 2009
Minutes of Amalgamation Review Committee meeting - November 2009
Minutes of Amalgamation Review Committee Meeting - April 2010
Minutes of Amalgamation Review Committee Meeting - September 2010
Minutes of Amalgamation Review Committee Meeting – December 2010
Minutes of Amalgamation Review Committee Meeting – March 2011
Minutes of Amalgamation Review Committee Meeting – May 2011
Minutes of Amalgamation Review Committee Meeting – October 2011
ARC Presentation to Parents – November 2011
Minutes of the concluding meeting of Amalgamation Review Committee - December 2011


 

Useful Links

Deaf Support in Third Level
Anne Sullivan Centre
Centre for Deaf Studies, Trinity College
Deaf Hear
Irish Deaf Society
Irish Deaf Youth Association
Irish Hard of Hearing Association
The Dublin Deaf Scouts
The Irish Deaf Sports Association
Sign Language Interpreting Service - SLIS
Bridge Interpreting
Deaf Linx


 

Sharing the Journey

Sharing the Journey is a newly established parent lead organisation, offering unconditional parent-to-parent support to ALL parents of D/deaf and hard-of-hearing children, irrespective of communication, education or technological decisions they have made or will make for their children .Following our very successful ' Parent and Toddler Play Date' in early March and numerous requests to host more, we are delighted to announce that we will be hosting monthly 'Play Dates' in April, May and June. Click here for further details

Deaf Education Conference
4th March 2010

The conference was organised and sponsored by the Catholic Institute for Deaf People (CIDP), DeafHear.ie, the Centre for Deaf Studies Trinity College Dublin and the Irish Deaf Society (IDS). The conference featured the launch by John Bosco Conama of a new Policy document designed by the above three organisations which set out a new future for Deaf education. The conference also featured a keynote presentation by Mark Marschark from the USA. Mark is regarded as one of the leading academic researcher's on Deaf education and is the author of the 2009 research advice paper on best practice in Deaf education for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). There were also presentations from experts from the education and medical professions as well as current teachers and parents of Deaf children who reflected on their experiences of mainstream and Deaf schools. The presenters were both Deaf and hearing people and interpreters from Finland, Slovakia, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland were present on the day.

The conference venue was the Croke Park Conference Centre in Dublin and the attendance was 320 delegates which showed the high level of interest in the area. The programme for the day, papers presented at the Conference and the speedtext transcripts of the presenters and the open forum contributions are available via the speedtext transcripts below:

Transcripts from the 4th March 2010
Presentation to Conference on the Future of Deaf Education in Ireland 4th March 2010 - Liam O'Dwyer
Contribution of Cochlear Implants to Deaf Education – Jennifer Robertson and Rosemary O’Halpin
The Visiting Teacher Service for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing – Pat MacSitric
Conference on Deaf Education – Teresa Griffin
A Partnership Approach to the delivery of Education of Deaf and hard of hearing children – A Policy document – Dr. John Bosco Conama
The Future Education of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children in the Republic of Ireland – Sean Herlihy

Centre for Deaf Education

The Centre is located in two of the houses on the Marian site. The Centre opened in January 2012 under the management of the Education Partnership group and will provide an information centre for parents of Deaf children and teachers of Deaf children and will have a research capability. Elizabeth Mathews has been appointed as the Coordinator of the Centre. The information held by the Centre will be the names and addresses of all Deaf or hard of hearing children, their parents, their school placement addresses and contacts for all professionals working with Deaf and hard of hearing children up to the age of 20 years. Material will be designed relating to the various approaches to Deaf education, the development implications and the services available to Deaf and hard of hearing children and their parents. This material will be made available via the web and in hard copy. The Centre will provide or arrange an assessment and advice service to parents so that all parents can avail of a face to face interaction together with the services of an educational audiologist via the current clinic. The Centre will offer or arrange diagnosis, assessment, and design or advice to support parents in the design of an education and communication plan via a qualified teacher of the Deaf as well as a referral and monitoring service. The Centre will offer technical audiological support to students of St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s as well as the general public. The Centre will refer parents to the NEPS psychological team, paediatrician services, the cochlear implant programme, family therapy service, and occupational therapy services, endeavouring to build a good relationship with these services and ideally offering accommodation to them, on site, one or more days a week . The Centre will offer a specialised service in specific language disorders. The Centre will have access to the speech and language therapist in the schools for the Deaf with the explicit intention in time of having its own speech and language therapist to offer specialised support programmes over time. The Centre will have a family therapist available to children and parents. The Visiting Teacher Service will be invited to offer support to parents from the Centre for Deaf Education and or be put in touch with parents who approach the Centre. The Visiting Teachers Service will also be invited to work with the Centre and the schools for the Deaf in developing an outreach programme to children in mainstream schools as well as the design and provision of short intake programmes. This critical aspect of the Centre for Deaf Education will be offered to children in mainstream schools by qualified teachers of the Deaf from St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s. The intention is that this outreach (and indeed intake for short periods) will be coordinated by the Centre for Deaf Education using the current teaching staff who will be secunded for this purpose and the service will be operated in cooperation with and under advice from the Visiting Teachers Service.

Sign language services will be available via the new Life Long Learning Centre which could also organise tuition for parents and children in their own homes and on an intensive short residential basis in the Centre for Life Long Learning using the new visitors accommodation in the chapel wing of the old St. Joseph’s. The Life Long Learning Centre could also be the base for offering courses in ISL and Deaf culture as well as specialised courses for teachers, special needs assistants and other professional working with Deaf children in mainstream settings. Training courses to mainstream teachers of Deaf and hard of hearing children and SNA’s will be offered in consultation and cooperation with the Special Education Support Service. These courses could also be open to the general public. The Life long Learning Centre will provide community development courses, personal development courses, literacy and IT courses among others together with post leaving certificate and FETAC courses for Deaf adults. The Centre for Deaf Education would be well placed to manage the Life Long Learning Centre.

The Centre is being managed by a partnership board of directors who will form themselves into a company limited by guarantee. The members of the partnership company will be the IDS, CIDP, DeafHear.ie, Trinity College CDS and a representative of the Board of Management of the schools for the Deaf in Cabra. It would be progressive if the new parent’s forum and the visiting teachers services were offered membership of the Board of Directors. The Board would meet every second month and would ideally employ all of the staff working in the Centre namely Manager (coordinator), Educational Audiologist, Information Officer, Receptionist, Secretary, Family Therapist, Parental support and advice worker, Outreach staff, Preschool staff and Life Long Learning tutors. A number of these staff could continue to be paid by their own organisations or indeed seconded to the Centre for a period of time.