THE DECISIONS MADE made on the corridors of Leinster House impact the lives of every single person living in Ireland.
A week out from Budget Day, it has become clear whether lobbying by groups with various influence has either paid off or become time wasted.
The impact of key political decisions are the bread and butter of Noteworthy investigations. This also why most people come to us with their stories, frustrated at lack of political interest or State action.
For instance, just before Budget 2024, for our GOING TO BED HUNGRY project, we reported that after years of decline, food poverty has shot up.
Reporter Cormac Fitzgerald visited the soup kitchen at the GPO on O’Connell St, run by the Muslim Sisters of Éire. One of the group of over a hundred people in the queue was Sarah* who had travelled to the city centre with her one-year-old daughter.
Especially when I was on the streets, I wouldn’t eat if they weren’t there. You rely on them.
Sarah used to sleep in a tent on O’Connell Street, and said the soup run and others like it had been an essential lifeline for her. Our article scrutinised what the government is doing to reduce the number of people not getting adequate food.
Though there has been some progress, in particular around school meals, experts told us that more State action is urgently needed.
This is where you come into the picture. Noteworthy is a community-driven platform and our investigations are crowdsourced from you, our readers.
So, in the aftermath of Budget 2024, we are asking: Is there an issue – local or national – that you feel needs a proper look? A problem that is not getting the attention or focus it deserves?
It could affect your local area or people across the country, be an injustice that you have come across in passing or something that impacts you directly.
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At Noteworthy, YOU have the power of suggesting what our team should look into by submitting ideas and then, crowdfunding those investigations.
Once you submit an idea, our editorial team meets to discuss whether an investigation into the issue is possible.
Proposed projects are then assigned to one of our team to do some initial research and write it up to put on our site for crowdfunding. It can take a bit of time to raise the funds required to examine the issue properly and we often ask our supporters for help during this process.
For example, we recently published an in-depth series – BIRTH CHOICE – on maternity choice. Among other issues, this examined the availability of water births and use of medical interventions.
This idea came about after one of our supporters contacted us about a mooted closure of a maternity service. When we reviewed it, the team felt it highlighted a wider issue, including the slow implementation of the National Maternity Strategy which was published back in 2016.
Once the crowdfunding goal for the project was reached, our team was able to dedicate a significant amount of time to examine the issue. We ultimately found women felt “unheard, belittled and made feel small” as they battled for maternity care choice.
This all started with an idea sent to us by YOU. All of our contact details are here – or simply fill in our online form:
*Sarah’s name has been changed to protect her identity
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