OPINION:We can each play a constructive role in building a better society, but our goodwill must not let the State off the hook, writes Elaine Bradley.
AS A SLIGHTLY bedraggled Celtic Tiger slopes off, exit stage left, we are left collectively to ponder what it has all been about and what happens next as we face into a time of uncertainty. With rumours of Irish financial institutions teetering on the edge, weekly tales of latest closures and corresponding numbers of workers joining the Live Register, and with warnings from the State about cutbacks in spending, those of us who remember recession times shudder.
In a time of economic uncertainty, social capital becomes more vital in sustaining communities and individuals. My own experience of the 1980s, struggling with the needs of a young family, crippling mortgage and scarce resources, is filled with positive memories. Kind neighbours would pitch in to feed each other's children depending on who had a full larder. I was involved in a local food co-op and running a pre-school playgroup.
While I have no doubt this way of life is not extinct, there is a perception that we have lost much in our collective quest for economic wealth over the last few years. There is evidence of the breakdown of community life and social capital which, according to social commentator Robert Putnam, "is manifest in the things that have vanished, almost unnoticed . . ." A common cliché during the boom times to express this sense of decline was "we have an economy instead of a society".
What did we lose and can it be restored? These were concerns of the current Government under the leadership of Bertie Ahern, and addressed in the report of the Task Force on Active Citizenship. The report affirmed the value of civic engagement in creating a healthy and vibrant society.
While social capital and volunteering are not the same thing (Putnam describes the former as "doing with" and the latter as "doing for"), the two are inextricably linked. There are conflicting views about the state of the nation in terms of volunteering and subsequently social capital. On the one hand, there is strong and positive evidence of the vitality of the volunteering spirit in Ireland, highlighted in people registering with their local volunteer centres. On the other, many organisations are struggling to find volunteers to help carry out essential work and renew themselves. Between these two truths is a landscape that deserves exploration.
Fundamental to this exploration is the question of the role of volunteering in Irish society, whether it is about adding value and enhancing lives or about developing and delivering essential services, or both. In Ireland, we have a long history of volunteering, from the tradition of Meitheal where neighbours and communities came together to work collectively on tasks such as saving the hay or cutting turf, to charity and philanthropy: many of our institutions have their origins in voluntary action, including schools, hospitals and the credit unions. Volunteering today is expressed in many ways, from the informal (such as cutting an elderly neighbour's grass or helping out with the school run) to the formal (where volunteers may sign contracts to work for specific periods of time on specific projects). It takes place across sport, the arts, human services, advocacy and human rights.
Volunteering is a profound act of democracy and active citizenship, as it endorses the right of each individual to shape society. It fulfils a need we have as social animals to be part of a larger community and to contribute skills and energies for causes outside our immediate interest. By investing time and energies in our communities, we are investing in ourselves, our futures and those of our children.
Volunteering plays a key role in the integration into a wider society, whether it is carried out by a young couple who have moved from the country to the city, or a person from Vilnius arriving in Ireland and wanting to establish a new life, to participate and make friends.
The community and voluntary sector, in which the State has increasingly become a stakeholder through partnership in public service, relies on voluntary effort to sustain it. The sector in Ireland, contributing an estimated minimum of €200 million to gross national product, is unique in that it delivers many services that in other countries are delivered directly by the state.
An area of controversy is around cost recovery from the State for delivery of essential services. Often the State only pays a percentage of the cost of services, and shortfalls have to be made up, usually through philanthropic giving and/or volunteer effort. In Volunteering Ireland, we passionately believe in volunteers' ability to change the world for the better, and in the right of all to contribute.
However, questions need to be asked, such as: are we relying on volunteers to fill in gaps and prop up underfunded services? If so, is this acceptable? Is this what volunteers should be doing, or have we blurred the boundaries between the goodwill of private citizens and the responsibility of the State? According to Charles Handy: "The responsibility of government is to use some of the riches created by the market, not to make life easy for everyone, but at least to make life possible, not to share out the money but to invest that money, in order to build a decent society."
Building a decent society is the starting point. With turbulent times looming, we will be challenged economically and socially. But within this challenge is the opportunity to regroup and rethink the kind of society we want. At the heart of that process is active citizenship and volunteerism. It's time the State, the community and voluntary sector, private industry and private citizens co-operated to consolidate what we have gained, recover what we have lost and work together for the future.
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Elaine Bradley is chief executive of Volunteering Ireland, the national volunteer development agency that seeks to promote, support and facilitate voluntary activity in Ireland and abroad