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Rio joins the Rovers in celebration of Partnership that goes Beyond the Ball
The partnership of Rio Ferdinand Foundation (RFF) and the International Fund for Ireland (IFI) teamed up to deliver a match day experience hosted at Sligo Rovers, The Showgrounds on Wednesday.
Organised by the Rio Ferdinand Foundation, the ‘Beyond the Ball’ matchday brought together young people aged between 16 and 18 from community projects across the southern border counties and Northern Ireland as part of a major partnership approach to peacebuilding and cross-community reconciliation funded through the IFI’s Communities in Partnership Programme (CiPP).
The Beyond the Ball programme is one of the IFI’s most significant funding allocations in recent years with an overall investment of €628,850 / £541,713, which included an initial pilot scheme in 2023.
This new phase was officially launched in August 2023, with the partnership working across Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Antrim, Tyrone, Fermanagh, and Derry/Londonderry, connecting young people from cross-community backgrounds through sport, sharing experiences, and building trust and confidence between communities at a grassroots level. The programme is expected to launch in Louth in April this year.
At the heart of the partnership is a desire to connect young people, broaden their horizons and build their confidence and leadership skills to empower community leaders. Since February 2023, over 300 young people have participated in the Beyond the Ball programme, 70 completed accredited training courses and qualifications in youth leadership and equality and diversity through the Open College Network and community sports leaders’ qualifications through Sports Leaders UK, with an additional 75 due to undertake qualifications. A further 308 people attended cross-border consultations, events, and tournaments.
The successful event, which welcomed young people from Belfast, Omagh, Derry/Londonderry and Donegal as well as locally from Sligo and Leitrim means that the ‘Beyond the Ball’ project has engaged with more than 1,000 young people across a range of initiatives and events with plans to maximise this participation and interest to deliver real change for young people and their local communities going forward.
Commenting on Beyond the Ball, the England and Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand said:
“I think we all recognise that supporting young people to achieve their potential regardless of background is the key to building a better future. The Rio Ferdinand Foundation is committed to delivering projects that give young people the confidence, skills, and platform to achieve that aim by offering positive activities, training, and opportunities to build networks, relationships, and careers across Ireland and the UK.
“This partnership with the International Fund for Ireland brings together young people, communities and strategic partners to work together and shape new initiatives, relationships and networks across the border counties of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain by linking up with our projects in Manchester and London – and it’s been a privilege to spend time here in Sligo and the west of Ireland to meet young people, families and stakeholders from all parts of Ireland to see what they are achieving within the project.
“I look forward to seeing the Beyond The Ball project develop in the coming months and to seeing what we can achieve working together to enable these young people to reach their potential in Ireland and Northern Ireland by sharing experiences and learning with young people in England.”
Paddy Harte, Chair of the International Fund for Ireland, said:
“The IFI’s ‘Communities in Partnership Programme’, which funds the ‘Beyond the Ball’ Project is focused on embedding lasting relationships on a cross-border and cross community basis.
“This collaboration between the IFI and RFF aims to put young people at the heart of their communities, giving them a voice and facilitating opportunities to inform and influence what happens in their communities.
“Football is the vehicle for this project, facilitating opportunities to develop relationships between young people and their peers who they may not otherwise meet whilst accessing a range of vital training and development programmes and qualifications aimed at offering them a path to a more prosperous future.”
The ‘Beyond the Ball’ match day is representative of a collaborative ambition to develop lasting cross-border relationships, providing opportunities for young people from border communities to come together, learn new skills and be supported to succeed. Cheering on the teams were a host of dignitaries from Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The match day celebrated the partnership between the Rio Ferdinand Foundation and the International Fund for Ireland and its work alongside stakeholders including Garda Síochána and PSNI to build relationships and promote community safety. The partnership contributes to peacebuilding, bringing young people together to collaborate over shared experiences, undertake leadership training and accreditation, and explore pathways that shape their futures.
Leading the teams out on the day were ‘Team Managers’ England and Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand and Westlife front man and Sligo Rovers F.C. Superfan Shane Filan.
Thirty-two young people walked out on the pitch on matchday, unsuspecting of the day’s magnitude, with organisers keeping the details of attendees firmly under wraps. A further three-hundred young people, their families, and youth workers from eight counties across the island of Ireland were transported to The Showgrounds to support from the stands and take part in activities in the grounds during the day.
United through their love of the beautiful game, the ‘Beyond the Ball’ matchday was supported by former Northern Ireland International Footballer Gerry Armstrong, and equality and social justice advocate Paul Canoville the first black player to play for Chelsea FC.
Female players also joined a women’s empowerment session with TV personality Kate Ferdinand, Linfield Captain Ashley Hutton, and home team Sligo Rovers Emma Hansberry. IFI Board member Bernie Butler joined the session alongside local Sligo current affairs journalist Jessica Farry.
The IFI was set up by the British and Irish Governments as an independent international organisation in 1986, delivering a range of peace and reconciliation initiatives across the southern border counties and Northern Ireland.
Minister of State Dara Calleary TD, who attended the event on behalf of the Irish Government said,
“The IFI has played a key role over many years in building a strong level of trust at the grassroots level, setting the foundations which allow communities to take risks for peace. The IFI’s status as an independent international organisation, its reputation for neutrality and its long-established links within communities ensure that it maintains a unique position of trust within hard-to-reach communities. The Irish Government is proud to support the IFI’s Connecting Communities strategy and has agreed to provide €20m for the period from 2021– 2025. It is a worthwhile investment in peacebuilding.
“A key element of this partnership with the Rio Ferdinand Foundation, is the focus on relationship building and exploring shared identities and learning on an East-West, as well as North-South basis. This means we are exploring shared identities between our two islands through football, which we see today is a powerful and inspiring platform to bring young people and their communities together.”
The ‘Beyond the Ball’ match day builds on the Rio Ferdinand Foundation’s work on the Island of Ireland since 2016 to rebalance equality, empower young people and deliver positive social change. The partnership with the International Fund for Ireland is pivotal in the Foundation’s ambition to level the playing field, amplify the voices of young people from underrepresented communities and create opportunities that unleash their potential.
The art of getting in front of a crisis – Business Post
With more than three decades of experience in helping organisations to navigate crises, Siobhán Molloy of Káno Communications is a firm believer in businesses swiftly owning up to corporate mistakes
Siobhán Molloy had an onerous task in front of her on a Saturday morning in 2008: telling the nation that it was soon to be separated from its supply of pork.
In her role as an adviser to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), the managing director at Káno Communications was charged with handling the messaging around one of the largest product recalls in the history of the state.
Elevated levels of dioxins, an environmental pollutant, had been found in Irish pork products sold both nationally and internationally. Although they were not so high that they posed an immediate risk to the health of consumers, they were between 80 and 200 times the levels allowed under EU law.
The issue had been caused by contaminated animal feed distributed to a number of farms in both Ireland and Northern Ireland.
“Everyone woke up to warnings on the radio. Morning Ireland, I remember, did a special on it, as every pork product was coming off the shelves. It was the easiest, cleanest, safest way to handle it,” said Molloy, who has more than 30 years’ experience helping organisations navigate their way through crises.
As well as overseeing the handling of the pork dioxin recall, she worked closely with the FSAI to manage the communication of the discovery of horse and pig DNA in Irish beef products in 2013.
More recently, she has aided the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) with monitoring the approval of Covid-19 vaccines and communicating any possible side effects or safety concerns (“of which there were not many”) to the public.
Through all of this, she has developed a particular perspective on what can make, or break, a crisis response.
“Our world today is very volatile and communication moves fast. During a crisis, it’s all about trust and confidence. If you’re not clearly communicating and providing the necessary information, you will fail, and there will be a vacuum,” she said.
Molloy is a major proponent of the fail to prepare, prepare to fail adage. She recommends that any brand hoping to ensure they can weather a crisis create a “crisis playbook” in advance that sets out what to do in the event that something goes wrong. This will prevent frenetic decisions being made in the midst of an actual event.
Running “live crisis simulations” can also be helpful in identifying potential gaps in an organisation’s response before the crisis in question actually arises.
“You need to think about what is the worst thing that could happen, and then plan for it,” she said.
According to Molloy, one of the worst things that a brand can do during a crisis situation is fail to issue any kind of response.
“If something has happened, you need to accept the consequences. Get as much of the news and facts out as fast as you can,” she said.
“Don’t have it pulled out of you through pressure, or have it dribble out. If you don’t own the story, others will.”
Once a company or organisation starts communicating, the public response, whether it be on social media or on the radio airwaves, should be carefully monitored, with any misunderstandings clarified and misinformation corrected in a timely manner.
“Misinformation can, when unchallenged, become reality,” Molloy said.
She cites Glenisk, the Irish organic dairy producer, as a company that handled a recent crisis with particular grace. The manner in which it communicated news of its Offaly plant being destroyed in a massive fire embodied much of the advice Molloy said she would give to a client in a similar situation.
“Vincent Cleary, Glenisk’s managing director, was out straight away explaining what they knew at that point. He was really honest and extremely humble about not knowing what the source of the fire was, or what the company’s plan was in the medium term,” she said.
Glenisk’s decision to honour the milk purchases it had agreed that day was not only a good move from a branding perspective, Molloy said, but indicative of a business with a particularly good set of values.
“Glenisk took a financial hit making sure it looked after its stakeholders, and came across as having great empathy. In the end, its competitors offered them the capacity to make their products at their factories, which is quite incredible.”
Conversely, Boeing’s handling of the grounding of its 737 Max planes left much to be desired, chiefly because the company lagged behind in issuing a response. Two crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia that killed a total of 346 people caused many airlines and aviation authorities to ground the model amid safety concerns.
By the time Boeing had made the decision to formally take the model out of the air, the company had lost control of the narrative, Molloy said. She added that although companies may be inclined to assess the full facts of a situation or conduct an investigation prior to making a public statement, allowing this information vacuum to form within the public sphere is a major mistake.
“As others had acted before [Boeing], it seemed it was grounding its planes due to pressure,” Molloy said. “They should have been quicker to reinforce how seriously they take passenger safety. The undue delay resulted in Boeing losing control of telling its own story.”
Molloy also noted that the decision by Facebook to change its name to Meta seemed to come at a time when the company was facing enhanced scrutiny surrounding how its platforms affect users and society more broadly, a rebranding tactic that, she said, was ill-judged.
“Facebook’s decision to change its name has been perceived in many quarters as a move to distance itself from the barrage of negativity,” she said. “But the problem hasn’t been bottomed out and addressed, so it won’t go away.”
“Originally published in the Business Post on December 19th”
https://www.businesspost.ie/media-marketing/media-the-art-of-getting-in-front-of-a-crisis-3872b7e5
Three new hires at Káno Communications
Here at Káno we are delighted to announce and officially welcome three new colleagues to support our growing client portfolio.
Claire Egan has over 15 years’ experience in the communications industry, working in the media, publishing, sport and higher education sectors. She joins Káno Communications as a Senior Account Manager from Dublin City University, where she worked as part of the University’s Communications Unit, specifically working on strategic research initiatives and flagship events. She previously spent six years as Director of Communications and Marketing with the Camogie Association. She is a four-time, All-Ireland Ladies Football winner with Mayo.
Kathryn Moley joins the agency as an Account Manager having worked in the PR sector for over six years. With extensive experience working with Irish and global organisations in the technology, healthcare, and education sector, the Dundalk native joins the Káno Communications corporate team from MKC Communications.
Gavin Hegarty joins as Digital Executive and will work across the firm’s brand and corporate clients. He has experience in digital production and international marketing. He joins Káno Communications following a successful marketing manager role with Digicel Caribbean Ltd.
Siobhán Molloy, Managing Director says, “I’m delighted to welcome Claire, Kathryn and Gavin to our growing team at Káno. Their combined experience and expertise will add huge value to new and existing clients as we continue to grow the business. The communications challenges that businesses, state agencies and brands face are becoming ever more complex and having expert and trusted advisors to navigate these challenges is more important than ever.”
The agency was founded over 30 years ago as Financial & Corporate Communications (FCC) the firm became part of Weber Shandwick in 2000 and following a management buyout 2020, the agency is now a partner to Weber Shandwick. We rebranded to Káno Communications in mid-2021.
A winning team!
Last Friday, the team won the prestigious ‘Best Corporate Communications’ campaign at the 28th national Awards for Excellence in Public Relations for our Eway 2040 campaign on behalf of the Irish Car Carbon Reduction Alliance (ICCRA). The campaign was also ‘highly commended’ in the ‘Best Use of Media Relations’ category, in which a record 28 campaigns were shortlisted.
The annual awards celebrate and recognise outstanding communications campaigns that creatively inspire audiences and deliver real and measurable results that drive organisational objectives.
Our latest accolade represents our 21st win at these national PR industry awards.
The esteemed judging panel described our winning campaign as a
campaign that demonstrated how PR effectively overcame a challenge for an industry. Through PR it built an initiative from the ground up, with clear objectives to reach multiple audiences through different tactics and carved out a relevant space against the political and consumer tide to achieve impressive outcomes.
Really well done to all the team who tirelessly went beyond to deliver an outstanding client campaign and congratulations to all our fellow 2021 winners.”