IFCO CONFERENCE 2009
12 – 17 July 2009
The International Foster Care Organisation (IFCO) international conference was hosted by IFCA in University College Dublin from the 12th to 17th July 2009. The theme of this conference was "Linking Global Foster Care"
Alice Parkinson, Conference Chairperson looks back on the IFCO Conference.
On Sunday 12th July our MC Keith Henderson welcomed delegates and introduced Justice Catherine McGuinness to officially open the International Conference. The President of IFCO welcomed us on behalf of the IFCO Board and I welcomed delegates on behalf of IFCA and the Conference Committees. It was a wonderful occasion. The children and young people lead by Jean and Miko proceeded through O'Reilly Hall with the flags of the 36 countries that attended. The youngest was a 4 year old boy and he was helped carry his flag and it was something to see. Our opening speaker was Dr. Geoffrey Shannon, International Expert in Child Care Law. We were then entertained by the Meath Harp Ensemble, a group of young harpists, after which food and drinks were served. After all the time getting everything in place we are finally off and the conference was officially opened.
There are so many people who were involved in making this conference run smoothly, who gave their time so willingly and who worked so hard over the past two and half years organising this event, they can be very proud of their achievements.
There were 3 main committees, the content committee of 16 was chaired by Mary Meyler and they worked extremely hard. Their task was to ensure that we had good quality plenary speakers and workshop presenters each day. This was no mean task and the commitment and professionalism of this committee which was made up of relative foster parents, foster parents, trainers, IAYPIA, and HSE personnel was commendable. The childcare and youth programme was chaired by Linda Condon and was made up of young people, foster parents and trainers. They organized workshops in conjunction with the adult programme and some of these were fun like the Irish dancing and the Art. The younger people and the not so young had a comprehensive programme, where they went to Funtasia, The chocolate factory, Bowling etc and had their own Conference Dinner and Disco and Closing Ceremony. This programme was put together to mirror the adult programme and to ensure that the children and youth were taken care of allowing everyone to participate in the Conference.
The core committee chaired by myself consisted of members of the other committees and Deirdre McTeigue Director of Services. Keith Henderson of IFCO acted as our link with the IFCO board for the duration of the conference and was a valuable member of this committee. Our task was to oversee everything, and our partners in ensuring that we were on target, as we had many targets to meet, were Conference Partners. We are indebted to Nicky, Lisa and Therese with whom we had an excellent relationship, for their professionalism, patience, and calming influence and their understanding of what was required throughout the conference. No conference would be complete without some entertainment, so on Monday night we had our Irish Night. A group of Irish dancers from Scoil Rince Ni Neil gave us a wonderful display of dancing that was followed by an evening of dancing and a display from a group of dancers who were part of the River dance troop. The band was great, they played a variety of music and as a family night everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.
On Tuesday evening the Minister for Health and Children Mr. Barry Andrews invited us to a state reception in Dublin Castle. This was a wonderful occasion and it was lovely to see the state reception rooms in this beautiful building. Minister Andrews welcomed everyone and in his speech he made reference to the Ryan Report and hoped that we had learned from the mistakes of the past and look forward to a better future for children and young people in care. The Minister also mingled with the delegates and had lots of photos taken with people from around the world. We thank Minister Andrews for his hospitality. Once again we were entertained by the Meath Harp Ensemble throughout the evening. An enjoyable time was had by all.
Our conference dinner on Thursday was held in O'Reilly Hall and this was a great night.
Everyone dressed in their finery and the band for the evening were the Camenbert Quartet, we had a guest appearance from Sharon Condon who appeared on You're a Star. A Raffle and Auction took place on the evening in aid of the Pat Whelan Trust. A painting given to Keith in Malta was auctioned, Frank Keating bought the painting and presented it to Deirdre McTeigue Director of IFCA as a gift to IFCA. It will hang in the new office in memory of Pat.
Our sponsors were The Department of Health and Children, Failte Ireland and Foster Care
Why don't you check out our photographs of the event!
And from the dancers.
My dance teacher asked me and the other juniors and seniors to do a show for the IFCA. As we got ready to dance, butterflies were doing a jig in my tummy. There were lots of people in the room from different countries. They were there because of fostering and to see our group dance for the Irish night. I really had a great time and I felt like a star for the night. When we finished our dancing we got a great big cheer and everyone clapped. I think they enjoyed the show I know I did. Thank you IFCA for asking us
Aoife 9
Little that I think how nervous I would feel dancing in front of so many people from different countries. On the night I was amazed to see how many countries were involved in fostering. I have been involved since I was two, I am now seventeen and my family are still fostering. As we arrived some people were taking pictures, we hadn't even danced yet I felt like a star already. I was very nervous as my little brother and my two cousins opened the show with our flag. Then it was our turn. Once I got the first dance over with I felt the crowed was really enjoying themselves and the show which made me want to dance even more. As we were leaving we were stopped by a women who was from Belgium. She took our photo on her phone. This ladies comment really put a smile on all our faces as she said that she thought her own national dancing was very good but after that night and our show she said Irish Dancing was better! Thank you I.F.C.A. for inviting our dancing group and our teacher Aideen O'Neill to your Irish night in U.C.D.
Katie 17
On the night of the IFCA, I really was nervous because this was the biggest show we had ever done. As I was about to dance I could feel my legs shaking and I thought I was not going to be able to dance. But once we heard that cheer, it was really amazing and gave us a lot confidence. I really did not want the show to end at all we were having such a good time and the audience was brilliant!I really hope we have done my family, my teacher, and IFCA, proud. I hoped the audience really enjoyed themselves and we would dance for them any time.......... We love it!
Shauna (age 17)
The following Plenary sessions were held during the conference:
Geoffrey Shannon TITLE: FOSTER CARE AND ACCESS
Danielle Coady. TITLE: MOVING ON AGAIN.....AN ANALYSIS OF FOSTER CARE BREAKDOWN FROM AN INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE
Helen Buckley: TITLE: THE IMPACT OF CHILD PROTECTION REFORMS ON FOSTER CARE
Yvonne Andrews, Angie Cross and Nicole Herbert:
TITLE: SHARING OUR STORIES TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE: THE NATIONAL YOUTH IN CARE NETWORK'S DIGITAL STORYTELLING WORKSHOPS
Valerie O'Brien
TITLE: UNDERSTANDING THE COMPLEXITY OF KINSHIP CARE AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR RELATIONSHIPS ‘WITHIN THE FAMILY' AND ‘FOR THE FAMILY AND STATE'.
Jillian Wain
TITLE: CONTACT JOURNEY OF A FOSTER CHILD
Patricia Byrne
TITLE: THE USE OF MARTE MEO AS A SUPPORTIVE INTERVENTION TO ENCOURAGE ATTACHMENT IN FOSTER CARE
Iain Matheson
TITLE: FOSTER CARE STANDARDS: A FOUR COUNTRY STUDY
Martine Delfos
TITLE: THE FOSTER FLIGHT. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT IN FOSTER CARE
Fiona Daly and Robbie Gilligan
TITLE: MATURING OUT OF LONG TERM FOSTER CARE: A FOCUS ON YOUNG PEOPLE'S EDUCATION
Gail Fagan
TITLE: WHAT'S SO FUNNY ABOUT FOSTER FAMILIES, ANYWAY?
Stephan Lund TITLE: HOW DO FOSTER CARERS MAKE CHILDREN STABLE?