Leonard Taylor's Page

What motivated you (or your organization) to become involved in peace and conflict resolution?

I was a catholic priest for 10 years and was involved in community development and social work. I recently completed an LLM in Law (International human rights law) at the Irish Centre for human rights, at the National University of Ireland, Galway. I am interested in teaching Catholic social teaching and human rights.

Please feel free to provide a short bio about yourself or the work of your organization (no more than 3 paragraphs)

Over my years of experience I have worked with a range of different situations and issues including with community groups, refugees, migrants, minorities and socially disadvantaged people including Irish Travellers. I very much enjoyed this diverse work. It has always been a source of reflection and study and gave me a good foundation to continue my studies to undertake masters in law.

I have had responsibility of assisting in the management of three catholic parishes in Ireland. Our responsibilities consisted in providing churches, schools, community centres and the necessary infrastructure necessary for their maintenance and development and growth. In each parish we developed programmes suitable to the area, addressing issues of poverty, homelessness, urban and rural isolation and neglect, welcoming of refugees and minority groups, creating forums of dialogue within and external to those communities to build up the social capital. I have worked in hostels for the homeless as a night shelter attendant and at rehabilitation and drop in centres for drug users and those recovering from drink and drug abuse. Our work also included the recruitment and hiring of dozens of staff for schools, and community centres. We also looked after the provision of community programmes for youth, the elderly, and support for the sick and counselling for the bereaved and the burial of the dead.

Our programmes also involved a high level of communication, using many different media including print, online, and radio or grass-root discussion groups. I am therefore well familiar with using all forms of media, use of computer software, speaking on radio and public speaking to large groups of people.

All grass-roots work I imagine!

Please list the countries and/or regions in which you (or your organization) have direct and significant expertise

Ireland

What is your current country of residence (or location of your organization)?

Ireland

What is your current job (and organization) and/or where and what field are you studying?

Have just completed n LLM in Law (International human rights law) at the Irish Centre for human rights, and am currently looking for work :)

How many years professional experience do you have ?

6-10

Which are your primary sectoral areas of expertise (or the primary sectoral areas of your organization) ?

Development, Dialogue, Education, Human Rights, Humanitarian Relief, Peacekeeping, Refugees, Rule of Law

Which are your primary skills areas(or the primary skill areas of your organization)?

Advocacy, Capacity Building, Communication, Curriculum Development, Fundraising, Program Administration, Program Design, Program Implemenation, Research, Training