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Montague Communications looking to Recruit Account Executive

We are looking for a highly committed performer with a genuine interest in public affairs and public advocacy work.

The Account Executive will be responsible for providing support, particularly in our public affairs and public advocacy work, to the Managing Director, Executive Director and our other staff.

Key requirements include:

• A good knowledge and understanding of the media, in particular new media like social networking media;
• A strong understanding of and insight into the Irish public policy terrain;
• Good writing and analytical skills;
• Third-level qualification or its equivalent;
• A minimum of two years experience in media relations, public affairs or public advocacy;
• An empathy for and an understanding of the not-for-profit sector and trade union movement;
• An engaging personality and good teamworking skills.

If you feel you meet the terms of the job description and are interested in working for Montague Communications, please email Niamh Congdon at Montague Communications with your CV and a cover letter – niamh@montaguecomms.ie – on or before Friday, 2 July 2010.

Account Executive Job Ad.doc 

Advocacy Initiative Conference 10th June 2010

Copies of the presentations delivered at the Advocacy Initiative Conference jointly organised by Montague Communications and Middlequarter on 10th June 2010 available here.

Click on the following links to access the presentations:

Conference Presentation-Survey

Conference Presentation - Interview & Forum Findings

Research Findings Response (1)

Research Findings Response (2)

Research Findings Response (3)

Advocacy Initiative Conference to be held on 10 June

The Advocacy Initiative will be holding a conference for NGO advocates on 10 June next in Dublin’s Ashling Hotel.  The purpose of the conference will be to:

• Present the outcomes of the research on the current state of NGO advocacy conducted by Montague Communications Ltd and Middlequarter Ltd (headed up by former Barnardos’ CEO, Owen Keenan);
• Consider the implications of this research for the conduct of advocacy;
• Discuss what next steps need to be taken to enhance the effectiveness of NGO advocacy.

The conference is the culmination of this phase of the Advocacy Initiative’s work which has also involved a survey of almost 400 NGOs, extensive desk research, interviews with key policy makers, civil society leaders and NGO advocates and a Forum attended by almost 50 NGO advocates.

The Advocacy Initiative is a collaborative initiative involving many of the key organisations and leaders in the NGO sector and its aims are to:

• Identify contemporary and emerging principles and models of advocacy internationally against which Irish advocacy practices can be assessed;
• Assess advocacy in Ireland and the relationship between civil society and the State;
• Generate greater awareness of current trends and challenges in the practice of civil society advocacy in Ireland and will engage with popular media to generate greater debate with the political system and the general public.

Montague Communications Awarded Tender for NACD

Montague Communications is delighted to have been awarded the tender for PR Services for the National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD). 

Montague Communications has worked with the NACD since 2002 and we look forward to continuing to support the Committee's important work on drugs issues in Ireland.

Happy May Day from all the team at Montague Communications

Our May Day 2010 Card is out now!

Montague leads successful merger of Refugee Information Services and Integrating Ireland

New organisation, The Integration Centre, to be launched in the coming weeks.

Montague Communications’ Managing Director, Pat Montague, has led the successful merger of the Refugee Information Services (RIS) and Integrating Ireland which has in turn led to th

e creation of a new organisation, The Integration Centre, which will be formally launched in the coming weeks.

Pat Montague is Chairperson of the new organisation which is one of the first to be created from a merger of two NGOs in Ireland. Given the uniqueness of this experience in an Irish context, Pat Montague was recently asked to make a presentation to the Irish Charities Tax Reform’s annual conference on the challenges involved in the merger process which took nearly two years to complete – a copy of his presentation is provided at this link.

The Integration Centre’s vision for Ireland is that of an inclusive society where immigrants and their families are fully and equally involved. This will be achieved via the organisation’s core programme areas which include:

1. Leading and collaborating on local integration programmes and plans;

2. Developing, for the first time in Ireland, a monitoring tool and framework to review the progress of integration between immigrants and the broader society across Ireland;

3. Providing regionally based, reliable information, advice and advocacy for immigrants in respect of their rights and entitlements.

Jemma Hogan appointed as Account Executive

Montague Communications welcomes Jemma Hogan back to our team as an Account Executive. Jemma worked with us for a few months at the end of last year and did a fantastic job – especially on our successful campaign around maintaining the Old Age Pension for Older & Bolder – bringing great energy and creativity to all the projects that she worked on.

Jemma hails from Tallaght and holds a Masters Degree in Public Affairs and Political Communication.

Highlighting Exploitation of Retail Workers by Profitable Companies

The Mandate Trade Union used the occasion of its conference in Galway to publicise a new report entitled, Milking the Recession.

According to the report during the last few years Mandate has experienced:

• The introduction by one profitable company of a highly questionable redundancy scheme that enabled it to replace workers on a higher pay scale with workers on a much lower pay scale. The scheme only offered employees the minimum redundancy terms allowable under law, which is two weeks per year of service. The company then claimed 60% of the cost of these payments back in a rebate from State funds. In reality the company shouldered little of the cost of the redundancies and pocketed the difference in pay rates between the workers it let go and those it took on.
• Another of Ireland’s leading grocery and drapery stores – which is still highly profitable – is pursuing the suspension of allowances for late night, early morning and overtime work. They are also actively undermining the terms and conditions of workers protected by a transfer of undertakings agreement put in place when the company entered the Irish market.
• Finally, one of Ireland’s leading retail outlets has attempted to cut the wages of the staff at the top of their pay scale by 15.5% along with a reduction of 25% in public holiday pay and a 25% reduction in Sunday allowances.

Mandate Trade Union Biennial Conference

Montague Communications also assisted Mandate in the organising of the Mandate Biennial Conference which took place in the Radisson Blu Hotel in Galway on 25/26 April 2010. The theme for this year’s conference was Waking Up, Taking Action.

Some of the items discussed at the conference included:

·    A Decent Living Income for all;

·    Recruitment and organising;

·    The minimum wage;

·    Part time workers hours;

·    Sunday working,

·    Erosion of terms and conditions including pay reductions;

·    Education;

·    Health;

·    Home repossessions;

·    The mismanagement of the economy;

·    Social welfare cuts.

For more on the Mandate Biennial Conference or to learn more about Mandate Trade Union log on to www.mandate.ie

Older & Bolder Campaign Success

Montague Communications have just completed our latest successful campaign with Older & Bolder culminating in the Government’s decision not to further cut the State Pension and other supports for older people.

This phase of Older & Bolder’s campaign (www.olderandbolder.ie) was aimed at protecting the income supports for older people against the cuts proposed in the McCarthy Report. It began in the autumn and involved a huge amount of work by a large team including Older & Bolder’s staff, member organisations and hundreds of volunteers around the country as well as the Montague team. Activities included:

• Petition signing campaign – leading to the signing of nearly 20,000 petitions;
• Nationwide lobby of Oireachtas members;
• Billboard and newspaper advertising campaign;
• Publication of research on the impact of the recession on older people as well as the outcome of a nationwide consultation with older people;
• National and local media campaign.

Standing Up for Education

One of our most recent campaigns is the Stand Up For Education (www.standupforeducation.ie) campaign which was successfully launched in late October. This long-term campaign is sponsored by the Teachers Union of Ireland and supported by the National Parents Association for Vocational Schools and Community Colleges and its aims are:

• To increase the level of investment in education in Ireland to 7% of GDP over a period of time to be agreed;
• To reverse cuts imposed over the past year as soon as possible; and
• To provide additional places in education for the government's employment activation programme by the removal of artificial limits on enrolment in Post Leaving Cert and other courses designed for this process.

Since its launch, the campaign has focused on lobbying Oireachtas members in support of its aims and building up a list of important endorsers. To date those who have agreed to endorse the campaign include:

• National Parents Council – Post Primnary;
• Aontas;
• Barnardos;
• National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals;
• Irish Second-Level Students Union;
• OPEN;
• Irish Traveller Movement;
• Irish Congress of Trade Unions;
• Mandate;

• SIPTU.

Montague help Launch New Liberty Hall

The country’s largest trade union, SIPTU, unveiled their plans – with the assistance of Montague Communications – for the redevelopment of Liberty Hall on its unique historic site on Dublin’s quays at the union’s Centenary Conference last October.

The ‘New’ Liberty Hall – which will become one of the premier attractions in the city – will include:

• Welcoming public entrance area;
• 16 storeys of offices and meeting rooms;
• Unique Heritage Centre on the history of the labour movement and a Sky Deck with a panoramic view of the city;
• Theatre and conference centre.

It’s expected that an application for planning permission will be made win the coming weeks. 

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