Eileen O’Malley (She/Her)
All-Island Alliance Manager
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InsightLink All-Island Alliance
Connecting the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector across the island to build relationships, share knowledge and experience, and strengthen cross-border cooperation and policy engagement.
The InsightLink All-Island Alliance brings together 57 organisations from across Northern Ireland and Ireland as a new space for the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector to connect, identify shared challenges and opportunities, and bring collective experience and evidence into policy discussions.
The Alliance forms part of InsightLink – Connecting Communities Through Shared Knowledge, a PEACEPLUS-supported project led by NICVA in partnership with The Wheel. InsightLink aims to strengthen cross-jurisdictional collaboration, address gaps in data and evidence, and support more informed policy and strategic planning.
Through the Alliance, members will build relationships across sectors and jurisdictions, explore the legal, administrative and practical barriers that can make cross-border working difficult, share evidence and frontline experience, identify opportunities for practical cooperation, and strengthen engagement with policymakers and relevant North–South institutions.
Who is involved?
Following an open nomination and selection process, 57 founding member organisations were appointed to the Alliance in September 2026.
The membership was selected to create a strong balance across Northern Ireland and Ireland, taking account of geography, sector, organisational size and reach, cross-border experience and community representation.
Members bring experience across frontline delivery, community development, research, advocacy, governance, peacebuilding and cross-border working, together with strong community connections and lived experience.
The Alliance in Action
The Alliance came together for the first time in Cavan on 29–30 September 2026 for its inaugural residential. The two-day gathering gave members an opportunity to build relationships, understand the expertise and experience across the group, explore barriers to cross-border cooperation and begin shaping the Alliance’s priorities and first year of work.
The discussions highlighted a clear appetite for collaboration, with members identifying the importance of practical cooperation, stronger relationships, better use of evidence and data, and creating effective routes for sector experience to inform policy.
About InsightLink
InsightLink is led by NICVA in partnership with The Wheel and supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body.
Its work includes the All-Island Alliance, development of a Knowledge Data Hub and a programme of cross-border collaborative engagement events. The project formally launched in September 2026 and will run until February 2029.
The wider InsightLink partnership also includes the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and the Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA), alongside associate partners from government, statistics, research and civil society, including the Department for Communities, NISRA, the Central Statistics Office, Co-operation Ireland and the Centre for Effective Services.
InsightLink is a project supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).
Find out more about InsightLink on NICVA’s website.
Find out more about iCommunity here.
Get in Touch
Eileen O’Malley
All-Island Alliance Manager, InsightLink Project, The Wheel
Email: [email protected]