Ballyhoura Development CLG welcomed Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Niall Collins TD, to the Charleville Park Hotel on Wednesday, 25th February, for the CITICESS Stakeholder Briefing and the official launch of the innovative, community-based Social Safety Approach.
Organised by Ballyhoura Development, the event brought together statutory agencies, community organisations and local partners to reflect on progress under the CITICESS (Citizen-Centred Social Services) initiative and to formally mark the next phase of co-ordinated community safety work in Charleville.
The Social Safety Approach, funded through the Community Safety Fund by the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, is a community-based initiative led by Ballyhoura Development CLG and delivered in partnership with local residents, Cork County Council, Respond and other local services. It is designed to strengthen safety, wellbeing and social cohesion through preventative, partnership-based action.
Launching the initiative, Minister Collins acknowledged the real and complex challenges facing communities: “I’m very familiar with all of the issues and the challenges that you have outlined – they’re very real. I experience them in my own constituency clinics on a weekly basis.”
Minister Collins outlined the purpose of the Community Safety Fund, noting: “The funding is derived from the proceeds of crime… and is put back into productive use for the communities that have been impacted by crime and criminality. That’s what the Community Safety Fund is all about.”
He also commended the work of local organisations: “I want to acknowledge the very fine work that you’re doing, helping and supporting migrants and communities and families and people who find themselves in vulnerable situations… everything that you do is contributing to the betterment of community.”
Building on CITICESS Learning
The Social Safety Approach builds directly on the learning emerging from the CITICESS initiative and the Ballyhoura Breakthrough pilot currently underway in the northside estates of Charleville, including Batt Donegan Place and Hillview Drive – areas identified as extremely disadvantaged under the Pobal HP Index.
Inspired by the Municipality of Heerlen’s internationally recognised ‘Breakthrough Method’, the 12-month pilot is now entering its second half and focuses on intensive, weekly, relationship-based engagement with families experiencing complex and overlapping challenges.
Early insights from the pilot highlight:
The importance of trust-building and sustained relationship work
The need for flexible decision-making in responding to real-life complexity
The value of strong inter-agency coordination
The effectiveness of tailored, locally led interventions over standardised responses
There is already early evidence of families moving from crisis toward greater stability, reinforcing the value of a relational, community-led model.
A joined-up, community-led approach
The Social Safety Approach works alongside Ballyhoura Breakthrough to deliver a bottom-up, people-centred model that links direct family support with wider community safety planning.
Its core focus includes: Development of a Local Social Safety Plan; Targeted, action-focused stakeholder engagement; Preventative, community-based responses to safety issues; Strengthening coordination between services and community actors.
Across both the CITICESS/Ballyhoura Breakthrough pilot and the Social Safety Approach, the learning is consistent: locally led, flexible, partnership-based approaches deliver meaningful results.
However, both initiatives are time-limited. Without continued investment and policy alignment beyond 2027, there is a risk of losing the progress, trust, relationships and impact that have been built.
The briefing reaffirmed the importance of strong community leadership, with Ballyhoura Development acting as a coordinating anchor organisation to ensure sustained collaboration between statutory agencies, community partners and local residents.