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Dublin City Comhairle na nOg
Find out about a place for young people to have their voices heard.
Comhairle na nÓg are local youth councils, which give children and young people the opportunity to be involved in the development of local services and policies. There is a Comhairle na nÓg in every city and county in Ireland.
The Dublin City Comhairle na nÓg is my local council. It is a place for young people to have their voices heard and to be involved in the decision-making process on projects that will affect them. Ten representatives were elected from schools and youth groups within each of the five Dublin City Council areas at workshops such as that held in Artane.
Initially I was introduced to Comhairle na nÓg by our student council liaison teacher. He told me that the workshops for electing members for the new term were coming up. At school I am a member of the student council. I have an interest in politics and I wanted to be more active and involved in it. So I immediately took the opportunity and decided to go ahead to the workshop. At this point I had no idea that we could both be elected as candidates.
During the workshop, each group discussed the topic of litter and the environment, two of the most controversial and critical issues of our generation. Then each group in turn presented their findings to everyone else. There were many creative ideas among those presented. As a young person I felt privileged that Dublin City Council were willing to listen to the opinions and ideas of the generation that is most likely to experience the consequences of our current environmental issues.
Aside from the discussions, I got to meet and speak to two of our local councillors Mr Larry O'Toole and Mr John Paul Mahon. This was a rare opportunity for us to discuss some of the problems that we think should be dealt with in our community.
After lunch came the best part of the day, the quiz! Competition was tight, questions were on a wide range of topics and got harder as we progressed through the stages. We were still able to snatch second place however. Proud as we were we each had a trophy to confirm our victory!
After the quiz it was down to the decisive part of the day. Each group had to elect one person from their school to go forward to the parliament. Although it was a hard task the delegates were elected, with many others wishing to be on the sub list. After a group shot was taken, it was time to head home. For people like myself though the journey has just began. For the next two years we will involved in making a lot of important decisions and representing the views of young people in our area.
Having just attended our first meeting which was held in the Council Chamber in the City Hall and attended by Lord Mayor Eiblin Byrne and City Manager Mr. John Tierney, I am very excited and am really looking forward to the experience of being a young politician.
I hope that the council will continue to run more programmes like this for young people, to encourage them to become young active citizens in their communities. It is often during the teenage years that young people feel their opinions are not valuable to others and that they are being neglected in their community. It is through activities such as this that we can encourage them to get more involved.
If you would like to get involved in the council or find your local Comhairle na nÓg visit www.comhairlenanog.ie.
If you live in Dublin and have any ideas, suggestions or any problems that you think young people are dealing with in your area and you want something to be done about them, find your local Comhairle na nog representative by visiting their website at http://www.dublin.ie/youth/comhairle-na-nog.htm.
By: Sheelan Yousefizadeh
