Delia Ferri, Deirdre Desmond and Mac MacLachlan, Co-Directors of ALL Institute.
This year marks a significant milestone in the journey of the blog of the Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute IdeasInALL. Five years may seem modest in the lifespan of an institution, but for an interdisciplinary platform dedicated to disseminating cutting edge research on person-centred systems and evidence-based policies that empower people across their life course, these five years represent a period of intense engagement, growth, and collective learning.
As we celebrate the fifth anniversary of our blog, we are also unveiling a refreshed visual design for the blog, with a cleaner layout, improved accessibility features, and enhanced readability, which we hope will provide a better user experience. This graphical revamp reflects our commitment to making IdeasInALL more engaging and welcoming for every reader, and help connect more overtly our multifaceted and interdisciplinary research to MU beacons which ‘illuminate areas of excellence in research and collaboration’. Besides a graphical revamping from 2026, we also aim to have two annual symposia per year – our usual December one to mark the anniversary and a Spring one to mark core research themes from an interdisciplinary perspective.
As every year, we have chosen a theme as a fil rouge of the blog to celebrate this important anniversary. Given that our anniversary coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Proclamation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (Charter) we have decided to showcase how our research aligns with the rights and principles proclaimed in the Charter and contributes in many ways to the building of Europe. The theme allows us to highlight the relevance of our research in the Irish research context, considering the forthcoming Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which will commence in July 2026 at a time of profound political, social, and technological transformation.
These overlapping anniversaries thus invite us to look back at what has been achieved by ALL but also to consider the evolving role of interdisciplinary research in Ireland and within the European context.
When IdeasInALL was launched, its mission was to create a space where complex ideas could be unpacked, debated, and connected to the daily realities of people across Europe and beyond. Over the past five years, this mission has guided our editorial choices and allowed us to engage with scholars, practitioners, activists, policymakers, students, and citizens. Many of the contributions published so far present results or interim findings of European projects, funded or co-funded by the EU. Instead of fragmented and overly technical explanations, our blog posts have focused on contexts, insights, lived experiences and allowed an array of diverse readers to engage critically with concepts, principles and rights that sit at the core of the Charter, and more broadly of the European project. This fifth anniversary feels particularly meaningful to celebrate this editorial commitment and to publish brief accounts on how our research aims to protect rights in the context of emerging digital technologies, to support inclusion, to enhance the rights of persons with disabilities – all themes for which the Charter has been an essential compass.
Yet anniversaries are not just celebrations but are opportunities to look forward as to how academic and engaged research can contribute to make the Charter a living instrument. Such reflection is particularly apt because, as noted above, our fifth anniversary also coincides with another pivotal moment: the upcoming Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Ireland will assume the rotating presidency at a time when the EU confronts continuous geopolitical tensions, climate crises, economic uncertainty, and technological threats. Ireland brings to the presidency a long-standing commitment to multilateralism, fundamental rights, and social justice. These values align closely with the ethos of the Charter and resonate strongly with the principles the ALL Institute and IdeasInALL have championed.
While it is early days, the Irish Presidency is likely to focus on policies that aim to strengthen climate action, cohesion within the EU, deepen engagement with citizens, and address the inequalities that persist across Member States. As Ireland steps into its role, IdeasinALL remains committed to providing insightful and critical analysis that contributes to a better-informed public conversation, to advancing research dissemination, and to highlighting voices of those who have historically been overlooked.
Last but not least, as we mark this triple celebration – the blog’s fifth anniversary, the 25th anniversary of the Charter, and the upcoming Irish EU Presidency in 2026- we wish to thank all the editors that over the years have shaped this platform, and the current editors: Matthew, Alessia, Lauren and Sharon. Most of them are early career researchers that, with their enthusiasm, have brought commitment and new ideas over the past five years. We are grateful to our managing editor Nuala Downes whose dedication and unwavering commitment have been instrumental in sustaining IdeasInALL. A big thank you goes to all our contributors and our readers who have been part of this journey.
Happy reading!
Five Years of Rights, Research and Reflection
The Charter – 25 years of milestones reached and challenges ahead
Is the Charter protecting the environment?
