An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 7 the Covid-19 pandemic, our inaugural networking seminar was deferred to quarter 4 of 2020. In the prevailing environment, we maintain a pro-active involvement with kindred organisations and agencies, and we continue to engage in public advocacy and appropriate lobbying, on pertinent issues relative to the Associa- tion's objectives. ARCO has promoted the absolute requirement to articulate and institu- tionalise an inclusive and comprehen- sive Government Veterans' Policy. In the interim, we are actively advanc- ing the Combined Veteran's Strategy, collectively submitted by ARCO, ONE and IUNVA. This Strategy includes the establishment of a Joint Office for Veterans' Affairs, consisting of person- nel drawn from the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces. SUBMISSIONS TO GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS Our membership reflects a considerable reservoir of experience and expertise within the realm of Defence. Consequently, ARCO is very well positioned to contribute to discussions on Defence related issues, As such, we have made wide-ranging submissions on the White Paper on Defence, the White Paper on Foreign Policy and External Relations, and recently on the National Security Strategy. Regarding pension related issues, serving and retired personnel may wish to recall that we have made comprehensive submissions to the Public Service Pay Commission, the Department of Defence, and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. COMMUNICATIONS Our recently activated Social Media Platforms can be accessed as follows: LinkedIn via Association of Retired Commissioned Officers, and Twitter and Facebook via @ArcoIreland. Providing a marketing tool for the Association, they also facilitate cost effective, innovative and efficient communications support for our membership. These platforms convey our key messages, encourage debate and conversation, and assist us in connecting with members, potential members, the wider Defence Community, and the Veterans' Community. Our Social Media Platforms, restructured Web- site, https://iarco.info/, Text-a-Message Service and Newsletter, are core elements of ARCO's Informa- tion Strategy. FUTURE Finally, in these challenging times, ARCO's focus for the short to medium term, is to protect our legacy, ethos and values, to implement its aim and revised objectives as adopted at the 2019 AGM, to expand our membership base, and to prepare a framework for the elaboration of a Veterans' Policy, whilst ad- vancing the Association's relevance with its evolving membership cohort. Executive Committee 18 May 2020 25th Anniversary Reception, Senator Michael McDowell SC, Lord Mayor Councillor Paul McAuliffe ,and Brig Gen Paul Pakenham (Retd) Commissioning Ceremony, Lt Turlough Gallagher, 27 Inf Bn, recipient of An Claidheamh Gascíochta.

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