The best ideas begin around a kitchen table with friends, and so it was with Hireland. We are a group of American college students studying abroad in Dublin with Champlain College for the semester. In our Social and Nonprofit Marketing class (MKT 340), we knew at the beginning that we would be working on some sort of practical project, but we had no idea what that would be.
Our fabulous professor, Lucy Masterson, bounded into class that fateful Thursday morning with, if possible, even more energy than usual, brimming with the excitement of a new idea. Her thought was brilliant in its simplicity. People are unemployed everywhere, in the U.S., Ireland, and around the globe. We’re all hurting, we’re all frustrated, we’re all united by these truths. So why don’t we do something about it? And there it was, the seed that grew into our movement.
The Idea:
What if businesses pledged to hire one person on the dole for just nine months? What if people on unemployment could get their confidence back, and get back on their feet? What if we could then go to the government to show them what we’ve done, and charge them with the task of making it financially feasible for the business-employee relationship to last after the set amount of time was up? The possibilities began to materialize, and goals began to form. At the end of the day we had our vision: get 5% of Ireland’s unemployed population (or 20,000 people) off the live register in our first year. The movement has snowballed from there.
Where We Have Come, Where We Are Going:
Since that first day, we have teamed up with a group of Irish students living in Dublin to create a student movement that blends the Irish fighting spirit with the American ‘can do’ attitude to form a unique movement for positive change. We have received pledges of support in either donated time, equipment, advice, or other forms of help from numerous businesses and persons. We have gotten people talking through our Facebook page (search Hireland), Twitter account (@Hireland2011) , and soon our up-and-coming website at https://www.hireland.ie/.
Last week, we had our first mention in national media through Mary McKenna, Managing Director of Tour America. See the interview here on TV3 Ireland. The team have also met with the CEO of the government body FÁS, the Irish National Training and Employment authority, to share Hireland’s ideas, vision and action steps.
Today, we shot the final version of our viral video here in the Academic Centre of Champlain College Dublin. Special Thanks to the fantastic Richard Kendrick, professional cameraman, who donated his time and equipment to make this happen for us this morning before he had to go make a documentary in Co Mayo. Great example of the generosity of spirit we are experiencing.
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| Patrick Danylik and Andy Bruhns going through their scripts |
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| Richard Kendrick helping us |
Where it will it all lead? None of us know. But we are definitely excited to find out!
Andrew Bruhns -Business Major, Champlain College class of 2012
Sam Maslak – Psychology Major, Champlain College class of 2012
Hannah Long- Business Major, Champlain College class of 2012