Biography
The harsh realities of Northern Ireland led Dianne to years of intense lobbying to retain hospital services for her community in Fermanagh.
She also established a cross community youth project. ‘Benign apartheid’ in NI sees 96% of young people segregated- this project sees 10,000 visits a year from teenagers. The youth-led centre persuaded services to adjust to engage challenging young people rather than expecting vulnerable young people to adapt to established systems. Author of “We Wanna Be Safe’ which facilitated for young people’s voices to be heard on drug and alcohol issues. A campaign to make education and training more accessible, and build capacity in communities via live Internet links is still underway.
Currently, Dianne is coordinating a cross community campaign she instigated in Fermanagh to halt fracking licences. Dianne has a particular interest on the impacts on communities when they are transformed from rural areas to industrial zones.