Speakers' Panel sub-group

Speakers’ Panel

Nasc's Speakers' Panel is a panel of Speakers who speak on behalf of our organisation about issues affecting their lives and the lives of their communities. Nasc offers a service to other groups and organisations wishing to learn more about immigrant, refugee and asylum issues and lives. We offers training to all new members of the Speakers' Panel in a range of issues including Development Education, Facilitation and How to Speak in Public about Immigrant Issues.

The Speakers’ Panel is a program run by Nasc that provides an opportunity for migrants to relate their experiences of life in their native countries to the broader community in Cork.  The objectives of the Speakers’ Panel are:
  • To increase public understanding of the backgrounds and cultures of migrants living in Ireland
  • To provide an opportunity for capacity building for the speakers themselves

Speakers give talks to or facilitate workshops for a variety of groups, for example schools, Gardai, immigration officials, adoption boards, ex-prisoners, etc.  Sessions are generally requested by these groups / organisations.

Nasc charges audiences for the sessions and 100% of the fee goes to the speakers themselves: €35 per person for a talk; €50 per person for a half day workshop; €100 per person for a one day workshop.

Nasc organises training for speakers to enable them to hold these sessions.  This training is provided either by Nasc staff (principally the Community Development officer), external facilitators or by other speakers. Nasc organises on average 5 training topics, each run twice per year. Typical training topics include:

  • Group facilitation skills
  • Anti-Racism training for participants
  • How to facilitate an Anti-racism workshop
  • Public speaking on immigrant issues
  • How to tell your personal story or the story of your country
  • Development education

Country of Origin Project
The Speakers’ Panel also run the “Country of Origin” project whereby, using development education techniques, they work with other organisations, groups or agencies to raise awareness about “why people come to Ireland” and development or human rights issues within countries of origin. In the past we have worked with the Gardai and Youth leaders and we hope to work with other groups and statutory service providers in the future. The Speaker’s Panel have documented this work in a publication entitled “In Our Own Words” and we aim to record our work in different ways in the future e.g. on website, video, DVD, etc and to work with our partner groups on these projects. In this way we aim to increase knowledge about countries of origin and develop intercultural understandings.

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