Aisteach AGM 2024, followed by Pizza & Pints!
All are welcome to join Aisteach at our Annual General Meeting for 2024.
When: Saturday November 16th at 3pm
Where: Dublin Pride Hub, 44 Clarendon Street, Dublin 02, D02 YK66
Aisteach really needs our members and the support of the wider community! Please come along to our AGM and hear about what we have achieved so far and what we need to focus on going forward.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Post AGM Pizza & Pints!
Everyone is invited to join us for pizza and a few drinks at Street 66 after the AGM! If you are coming alone and would like someone to meet you at the door please email info@aisteach.ie and we will arrange this for you.
When: Saturday November 16th at 5pm
Where: Street 66, 33-34 Parliament Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 02
Vegan and Vegetarian Pizzas Available.
Open House Event: Bi Linn: An Aisteach Exhibition
We are proud to announce that our next event’s opening ceremony will be hosted in the Open House Info Hub on Charlemont Walk on Friday 11/10/24.
Aisteach invites you to bígí linn, be with us, while we present our ongoing community work in Ireland, individual artistic and architectural pursuits and research and international case studies which present alternative housing arrangements and economic development models not currently widely represented in Ireland.
The exhibition itself will run all week after the launch.
Accessibility Information: The venue is a temporary use space and does not have direct access to toilet and washroom facilities inside the space. Participants and visitors have full use of toilets, including an accessible toilet, located in a separate adjoining building approximately 100m away. The space and doorways open wide and the venue does not have any steps or stairs.
Happy Together? An Aisteach Workshop
Following on from our sell-out workshop at Open House Dublin last October, Aisteach hosted a special Pride interactive workshop in June 2024. Bringing together artist Alisha Doody, architect-researcher Nicolas Howden and facilitator Michael Foley to creatively explore how we can live together, as queer people: in our homes, neighbourhoods, communities and the city.
We looked at our interactions, the spaces we occupy, the objects we use to claim and to code those spaces.
The event was a camp, interactive, fun day where we used drama to shape and share principles for being happy together.
Aisteach Fundraising Table Quiz and Raffle – February 21st 2024
We are delighted to announce our upcoming annual fundraising table quiz and raffle!
When: Wednesday February 21st at 7pm
Where: Street 66, Parliament Street, Dublin 02
Our host Breda Larkin, better known by her alias Joe Dole, will bring teams through the question rounds before crowning the winners.
Teams of 4 can register in advance using the link below. However, if you are coming solo you can also register there as well and we will assign you to a team when you arrive.
2023 – Year In Review
As we move into 2024 we thought we would post an update with some news on our progress throughout 2023!
| Public Meeting at Outhouse |
| On February 23rd we hosted a public meeting which included guest speakers such as Anna Nolan, Chair of the NXF, Alison Gilliland, DCC councillor and housing committee chair, Eoin Carroll, Director of policy at CHI and members of our management committee. We formally opened for membership on the night and since then our membership has grown and continues to grow. |
| Fundraising Table Quiz and Raffle |
| We held a pub quiz on April 19th at Street 66 and managed to raise almost €2.5k – this really demonstrated the support of the community for what we are trying to do. This money was used to pay for our audited accounts. As a registered Industrial and Provident Society Limited we are required to submit audited accounts every year. This was our first year as a formal registered society and audited accounts are mandatory. |
| Conversations with Aisteach |
| We were busy over the month of June! One of the highlights was participating in Cooperative Housing Ireland’s series of “Conversations With…”, where we were joined by Anna Nolan to talk about Aisteach to CHI’s members. |
| Purple Training and Pride Gathering |
| We also spoke at other Pride related events such as Maynooth University’s Purple training and held our own Pride gathering in the Dublin Pride Hub. |
| Cork City Council’s LGBT+ Awareness Week |
| We featured in a number of other media and public events – such as Cork City Council’s LGBTI+ awareness week where we were proud to be part of a panel discussing the challenges for elderly LGBTI+, especially housing challenges to mark IDAHOBIT (International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia). Other panellists included: Tonic Housing, Opening Doors, Stonewall Housing, LGBT champions programme and a presentation on research on our elderly community. |
| Press and Radio! |
| GCN did a feature on us in March and our wonderful Chair Eileen did an interview for an article on LGBTQ+ housing in October. We also took part in a radio interview with Dublin City FM’s Queeriosity. |
| Open House Event |
| In October we hosted a workshop with the Irish Architecture Foundation as part of Open House, where we asked the community to imagine what a queer home could be and together we came up with some brilliant ideas on what home means for queer people. We will have a report from that in the coming months which will feed into our plans for the future. We hope to run more workshops to continue to involve our members and our community in what we are doing. |
| Grant from Oakfield Trust |
| We were delighted to be awarded a grant of €1000 from the Oakfield Trust to support our efforts. We consider ourselevs to have a social enterprise model and will liaise with Oakfield Trust over the coming years when opportunities arise. |
| Are You Registered as a Member of Aisteach Queer Housing Co-operative? |
| If not, please contact us at info@aisteach.ie to find out how to start the process! |
If you want to sign up to our mailing list please click on the link below!
RECORDING OF CO-OPERATIVE HOUSING IRELAND – CONVERSATIONS WITH AISTEACH – June 7th 2023
Did you miss our live online event with Co-Operative Housing Ireland?
Watch back now by clicking the link below!
CO-OPERATIVE HOUSING IRELAND – CONVERSATIONS WITH AISTEACH – June 7th 2023
Co-operative Housing Ireland is delighted to invite you to ‘Conversations with… Aisteach’ a discussion with Eileen Leahy, Chair of Aisteach Queer Housing Co-operative’s Management Committee, Anna Nolan, Chairperson of NXF National LGBT Federation, and Co-operative Housing Ireland. The discussion will take place on Wednesday 7th June at 5.30 pm over Teams events. In registering for a ticket, you will receive a link to access the event.
This event is free and open to all.
In this discussion we will explore barriers to securing adequate and safe housing for LGBT people, the work and aims of Aisteach as a housing co-operative and wider issues currently facing the queer community in Dublin.
Co-operative Housing Ireland (CHI) is one of the largest Approved Housing Bodies in Ireland, providing almost 4,500 high quality homes to low-income households. As a representative body, CHI champions co-operative principles in delivering homes and supporting communities. It works closely with various stakeholders in the housing sector, including the Local Authorities, the Government, and the developers, to provide high quality social-rented homes across the country. The organizations’ mission is to lead the development of social, economic, and environmental sustainability in Ireland through co-operative effort and the provision of co-operative housing.
We look forward to welcoming you to the conversation!
AISTEACH FUNDRAISING TABLE QUIZ – April 19th 2023
Aisteach Queer Housing Co-Operative are delighted to invite you to our first fundraising table quiz!
Join us on Wednesday April 19th at 7pm for what promises to be a night full of banter and laughs at Aisteach’s first fun-raising fundraising table quiz! Queer mecca Street 66 is the venue for this event and we are inviting LGBTQ+ community members and allies to sign up.
Our hosts Breda & Laura, the hilarious comedic duo The Wild Geeze, will bring teams through the question rounds before crowning the winners.
Teams of 4 can register in advance using this link. However, if you are coming solo you can also register here and we will assign you to a team when you arrive. Any tables not sold in advance will be available to pay for on the night.
Cost for a team of 4 = €40 + Eventbrite registration fee
Cost of individual entry = €10 + Eventbrite registration fee
You can also donate to Aisteach when registering if you would like to do so.
If you want to come along but cannot afford the entry fee email info@aisteach.ie and we’ll save you a space.
Raffle tickets will be on sale on the night. We have some fabulous prizes lined up, which will be announced before the event!
Since establishing Aisteach we have incurred a number of costs and all monies raised will help cover these costs.
If you have any questions email info@aisteach.ie and we will reply as soon as we can.
PUBLIC MEETING – FEBRUARY 23RD 2023
Aisteach is delighted to invite you to our next public meeting for the LGBTQIA+ community. The meeting will take place in Outhouse at 5 Capel Street on Thursday February 23rd from 6.30pm to 7.30pm.
Speakers on the night include:
Deputy Lord Mayor Darcy Lonergan
NXF Chairperson Anna Nolan
Members of the Aisteach management committee.
We are accepting applications for membership on the night, with the cost being €1 per person – CASH ONLY.
This meeting is an opportunity for the community to find out more about us and the co-operative model in general. It will also be a safe space for people to network and share ideas. Aisteach’s goal is to provide community-led housing within the LGBTQIA+ community. We formed over covid as a mutual aid group, based on the co-operative principles. We strongly believe that co-operatives can be part of the solution to the current housing crisis, which is making our city uninhabitable, and we are developing a model for a community-led queer co-operative in the city.
We would greatly appreciate it if you could share the above information with any friends, families and contacts you have who may be interested in getting involved.
We look forward to welcoming you on the night!
Aisteach 