Chef and food writer Domini Kemp to join panel discussion on hiring ex-offenders

The event has been organised by SOLAS, the Further Education and Training Authority, in partnership with Mountjoy Prison, following the two organisations’ partnership on #TEDxMountjoyPrison earlier this year.

The #TEDxMountjoyPrison event in April was the first-ever TEDx event in an Irish prison and explored ideas on how to ensure ex-offenders are successfully re-integrated into society.

David Stanton, minister of state for justice and equality, will open the meeting at Ibec’s offices in Dublin next Monday 2 September, 11am.

Other speakers at the event will include Nikki Gallagher, director of communications and secretariat at SOLAS, and Eddie Mullins, Governor of Mountjoy Prison.

As part of a panel discussion, Ms Kemp will share her experience of running a prison entrepreneurship programme, and topics will include the benefits to employers of hiring ex-offenders and the supports available to employers to do so.

The findings of a survey commissioned by SOLAS on employers and public attitudes to working with ex-offenders will be released as part of the event.