2019 marks another successful year for Comhairle na nÓg, Ireland’s local youth councils, with almost 4,000 young people participating across all 31 Local Authorities nationwide, according to the organisations’ 2019 Annual Report which was published today.
Comhairle na nÓg ensures that young people can participate in local and national structures. They are a vital infrastructure to ensure the full participation of young people in decisions that directly impact their lives.
Throughout the year Comhairle na nÓg has continued to help young people achieve significant outcomes on many topics of importance including mental health, drugs and alcohol, safe communities and safe socialisation, education, health and wellbeing, discrimination and equality and relationships and sexuality. Mental health was the key topic in 2019.
Welcoming the publication of the Report, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Dr Katherine Zappone said:
The work of young people through Comhairle na nÓg continues to inspire me. I believe that children and young people have a right to a voice and a right to participate in decisions that affect their lives. Comhairle na nÓg provides a meaningful space for young people and enables them to voice their opinions on the challenges we have in our communities. Through the engagement with decision makers, Comhairle na nÓg also works to ensure young people are part of how we respond to these issues, thereby making their participation both meaningful and valuable in effecting positive change.
An exceptional event from last year was Dáil na nÓg 2019, where 168 delegates from Comhairle na nÓg took seats in the Dáil chamber to celebrate 100 years of democracy in Ireland and the first Dáil in 1919. It was the first time young people had the opportunity to cast their votes in the Dáil Chamber and they voted to set out a climate change agenda for the current National Executive.
2019 was also the year where two key actions were brought to fruition under the theme of equality in a school setting. The Comhairle na nÓg National Executive, which is made up of one member from each of the Comhairle na Óg local groups, achieved two important projects related to equality in education:
- The #TeachMeAsMe social media campaign, to highlight how schools can ensure all young people are treated equally; and
- Our Voices Our Schools, an online toolkit for schools to enable young people’s decision-making in everyday school life.
Acknowledging the achievements of 2019, Minister Zappone said:
Young voices are key in deciding the future of our communities and our country. Every time I meet the members of Comhairle I feel confident about our future. They are ready, willing and able to confront the many challenges in an uncertain world. These young people work hard to create a better, brighter future. I hope they are extremely proud of what they have achieved in 2019, I know I am.
Ireland is a world leader in terms of the direct commitment by national and local Government to establishing and sustaining local youth councils. As a consultative forum, Comhairle na nÓg plays a vital role in representing the voice of young people in Ireland and in developing resources and disseminating information to young people on a wide range of topics. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs is committed to ensuring the ongoing engagement of young people in decision making through the permanent structures of Comhairle na nÓg.
Notes to the Editor:
Comhairle na nÓg
Comhairle na nÓg are child and youth councils in all local authority areas of the country and are the recognised national structure for children and young people (under the age of 18) to have a voice in the development of local services and policies. Comhairle na nÓg are funded and supported by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA).
Comhairle na nÓg (youth councils) gives children and young people a voice in decision-making with regard to the development of local services and policies. They are recognised as the national structures for participation of children and young people in decision-making in all 31 local authorities. They allow young people’s voices to be heard in two ways; by working on topics of importance to young people and acting as a consultative forum for adult decision-makers at a local level.
Engagement between schools and Comhairle na nÓg continued to grow in 2019 through events, presentations to schools, leaflet and poster campaigns and surveys. Nearly 4,000 young people across the country participated in Annual General Meetings of Comhairle na nÓg and Comhairle members participated in 71 consultations led by 64 organisations in 2019 and 30 submissions/presentations were made by Comhairle members to 32 decision makers/ decision making structures across the country, most notably to local authorities.
Comhairle na nÓg Development Fund
The Comhairle na nÓg Development Fund is designed to assist local authorities to support the development of Comhairle na nÓg. The fund allocates up to €20,000 funding to each local authority to run an effective Comhairle na nÓg. In addition to this fund, local authorities and relevant statutory and voluntary organisations in the city/county may also provide funding and resources for Comhairle na nÓg at a local level.
The fund is administered by Pobal on behalf of DCYA. The Annual Report is prepared by Pobal and outlines the main findings of the work of Comhairle na nÓg in each of the 31 local authorities during 2019.
Comhairle na nÓg Annual Report for 2019
Pobal have made the Comhairle na nÓg Annual Report for 2019 available here: https://www.comhairlenanog.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Comhairle-na-nOg-Annual-Report-2019-Final.pdf.
#TeachMeAsMe
The #TeachMeAsMe campaign was launched by Minister Zappone in October 2019. This online campaign was designed to promote the importance of respecting individuality in schools. The idea behind the campaign came from members of the Comhairle na nÓg National Executive who wanted to create a positive campaign to inspire schools to improve the way they respect and celebrate individuality.
Our Voices Our Schools
Our Voices Our Schools toolkit was officially launched in December 2019 in Dublin by Minister Zappone. The resource was created as a result of young people expressing concerns that there was inequality in schools in terms of involving children and young people in important decision making within schools. The National Executive developed this online tool for schools to allow students to have their voices heard and be included in decision-making in schools.
Key Statistical Data
Key statistical data gathered under the evaluation of the Comhairle na nÓg Development Fund 2019: |
Number of young people across Ireland who attended Comhairle na nÓg AGMs | 3,988 |
Total number of Comhairle na nÓg meetings held across the country (full and sub-committee/local) | 789 |
Average number of meetings of individual Comhairle na nÓg per annum | 455 |
Total number of young people elected to Comharile na nÓg committees | 1,035 |
Average number of young people elected to Comharile na nÓg committees | 33 |
Percentage Female Membership of Comhairle na nÓg | 61% |
Percentage Male Membership of Comhairle na nÓg | 39% |
Percentage breakdown of Comhairle na nÓg membership under 12 yrs Percentage breakdown of Comhairle na nÓg membership 12 – 15 yrs | 0.3% 38.1% |
Percentage breakdown of Comhairle na nÓg membership 16 – 18 yrs | 61.6% |
The reports of the independent evaluation of the Comhairle na nÓg Development Fund Annual Report 2019 highlighted the following key topics:
Comhairle na nÓg – membership and meetings
- In 2019, the total national membership of Comhairle na nÓg was 1,035 with an average of 33 members per Comhairle.
- Females made up 61% of the overall membership of Comhairle na nÓg with the remaining 39% being male.
- 97% of Comhairlí provided some form of training to their elected members during 2019.
- Comhairlí na nÓg participated in approximately 66 consultations in 2019.
- Comhairlí delivered 30 submission/presentations to local and national decision makers.
- Members from 19 Comhairlí na nÓg sit on sub-committees of local decision making structures.
Key topics identified by young people
- 16 key topics were selected by Comhairlí in 2019.
- Mental health was identified as the key topic by the majority of Comhairlí.
- A total of 57 projects/initiatives across 16 key topics were delivered by Comhairlí.