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Annual General Meeting Report 2018
Longford Arms Hotel
Thursday the 25th of October 2018
Foreword
Longford Comhairle na nÓg provides a platform for young people in our region to have
their voices heard on issues that affect them. It serves as a consultative forum to which
young people can identify topics and create action projects to address those topics,
whilst also informing key decision makers. Longford Comhairle na nÓg ensures that
young people’s voices are heard on both a local and national level, with a representative
selected among the Comhairle committee to take up a place on The National Executive.
Members of Comhairle also have the opportunity to represent their county at Dáil na
nÓg every two years.
Having taken up my new role as coordinator of Longford Comhairle na nÓg, I will now
present the findings of the 2018 Longford Comhairle AGM which took place on
Thursday the 25th of October in The Longford Arms Hotel
The AGM was a huge success and young people involved in the planning and
coordination of the day should be hugely proud of themselves. It was attended by eighty
seven young people selected through their schools/youth clubs/youth services. Topics
for the day were selected through a survey carried out prior to the AGM with young
people in Longford. Topics included Economy, Inclusion, Mental and Physical Health,
Presidential Election and Community. The AGM also serves as a way of selecting new
members for Longford Comhairle na nÓg, and sixteen new members were selected on
the day.
I would like to thank everyone who participated in this year’s AGM and the dedicated
volunteers who helped out at the event. I would also like to wish the new members that
have been selected for Longford Comhairle na nÓg every success in the year ahead.
Many thanks also to all of the schools, youth clubs and youth services for their
continued support of the work that we do, if I can ever be of help to your service please
do not hesitate in contacting me at [email protected] or by phone on
0867945677. It is vitally important that we continue to support and encourage young
people to be active participants within society and their community, and I would
strongly encourage young people to consider getting involved with Comhairle na nÓg.
Kathleen Mahon
Longford Comhairle na nÓg Coordinator
Planning of Comhairle Na nÓg Annual General Meeting
Following an evaluation of last year’s AGM, the young people of Comhairle endeavoured
to build on the success of the previous event. As always, they strived to make the day as
fun and informative as possible. As there are changes planned in the structure of
Comhairle meetings, meetings to be held in the future in each municipal district, with all
members coming together once a month in Longford Town, and in light of the majority
of Comhairle members finishing their term, they chose the underlying theme of
“Transition” to encompass the impending changes. The Comhairle members worked on
designing interactive workshops within the topics identified through a survey carried
out with young people in county Longford. They also planned presentations, games, fun
debates and discussed who would be their guest speaker on the day.
Longford Comhairle na nÓg Steering Committee
The Longford Steering Committee is chaired by the Local Authority and comprises of
representatives of the below agencies and was established as a means of informing and
uniting key organisations in the work that Comhairle na nÓg do. The committee serves
as a support to Comhairle in times of creating action projects and provide ongoing
engagement in decision making and service development in the county. Positions on the
steering Committee are made up of the following agencies
Agency Number of Representatives Foróige Representatives 2 Family Resource Centres 2 Garda Youth Diversion Project 1 Gardaí 1 County Longford Youth Service 1 Longford Westmeath Education and Training Board
1
Comhairle na nÓg Participation Officer 1 Attic House Teen Project Representative 1 Local Authority Representative 2 Comhairle na nÓg members 2 Comhairle Coordinator 1 Children and Young People’s Services Committee
1
Annual General Meeting 2018
The Annual General meeting took place on the 25th of October in The Longford Arms
Hotel from 9.30am-3pm. The day was a great success and was attended by eighty seven
young people. Nine secondary schools were represented on the day, as well as youth
groups and youth services.
Organisations Represented
The Attic House
Teen Project
The LEAP Project
Bridgeway’s FRC
Foróige SAFE
Project
Girl Guides
The AGM commenced with an introduction made by the Comhairle na nÓg Coordinator,
who then introduced MC’s for the event, Comhairle members Luke Casserly and
Gabrielle Flynn. During the MC’s introduction piece, they played a video made by
Longford Comhairle na nÓg that provides an insight into the work and projects carried
out by the young people in Comhairle. A video message was also showed to the
participants from Steering Committee member Councillor Mae Sexton to wish them well
on the day as she was unable to attend.
Schools Represented
St. Mel’s College, Longford
Mean Scoil Mhuire, Longford
Moyne Community School
Templemichael College, Longford
Cnoc Mhuire, Granard
Ardscoil Phadraig, Granard
Convent of Mercy, Ballymahon
Ballymahon Vocational School
Community College, Lanesboro
58%42.00%
AGM Attendance
Schools
Youth Services
Following this, youth participants were then divided into groups as determined by
different colours given to young people during the registration process. They all then
took part in icebreaker games as a means of familiarizing participants with one another
as they would be working in group workshops throughout the day together.
Once all young people were acquainted, a presentation was made by Grainne Reid,
Coordinator of CYPSC. Grainne spoke to the young people about the work carried out by
CYPSC and the collaborative work carried out between CYPSC and Comhairle na nÓg.
Moving on from Grainne’s presentation, Luke Casserly and Gabrielle Flynn then spoke
to the participants about their experience of being members of Longford Comhairle na
nÓg, and how they were afforded various opportunities throughout their terms and
developed skills that they would carry forward in life.
Once all presentations were made, young people were once more divided into their
groups to commence workshops. Topics for workshops included Economy, Inclusion,
Presidential Election, Mental and Physical Health and Community. All workshops were
designed and facilitated by members of Comhairle and encouraged great participation
and engagement from young people taking part. Once all workshops were completed,
young people who participated then voted for which three topics they thought
Comhairle should address throughout the year ahead. Expression of interest forms to
become a member of Comhairle were then distributed to all young people and lunch
was served. During lunch break, young people enjoyed music and watched a video made
by Leitrim Comhairle na nÓg “Use your brains, Not your fists”.
After lunch, participants then enjoyed an interactive moving debate. It stimulated great
conversations and showed diversity of opinion among young people. Debate Statements
related to the five topics that had been chosen for the day. Statements for the moving
debate included the following: “Longford is a safe place to live”, some of the group
disagreed due to High Crime Rate and illegal fireworks. Some of the group agreed with
the idea that there was “other places worse off” and finally, a small portion of the group
were unsure. The next statement was “Longford has the same amount of resources as
other counties close to us”, a large portion of the group felt that “Everyone else seems to
have more, like hospitals”, the others within the group felt that Longford had good
shopping and amenities, and a small portion of the group felt that Cavan was in a similar
situation and were therefore unsure. The next statement was “I feel represented by our
councillors and TD’s”, a portion of the large group felt that youth groups could be
represented more, others agreed with the statement and felt that representatives were
doing their best. A small portion of the group were unsure about politics. The last
statement was “There are no opportunities for young people in County Longford”, the
majority of the groups felt that Longford has a diverse range of opportunities and there
was a great provision of clubs and youth services that could be attended. Some young
people agreed with the statement and felt that Longford was overpopulated. There was
no young people who were unsure by the leading statement.
Following this, a “Question and Answer” panel was formed and young people were
encouraged to ask questions relating to who the panel consisted of. The panel included
Cllrs Joe Flaherty and Michael Carrigy, Grainne Reid the CYPSC Coordinator, Luke
Casserly, member of Irish Second Level Student Union and finally Maura Casey, PLC
Coordinator of Templemichael College.
Workshop Results
Mental and Physical Health
By Casey Rowley and Máire Lillis
The name of this workshop was “Be Happy”. The workshop was focused around mental
and physical health. Facilitators conducted a quiz with participants of workshop which
posed questions about mental and physical health. Following the quiz, the facilitators
encouraged discussion with the group about what surprised them the most and what
changes may need to be made.
Key Points:
Worry in school
Bullying
Lack of services and facilities
Wellbeing in Junior and senior cycle
What would young people like to see change? :
Mental Health services increased
Mental health being viewed to be just as important as physical health
Services advertised better and awareness of what they offer
Open discussion on mental health without being judged
Less waiting lists
How can Longford Comhairle change it? :
Fundraise for more/new/existing supports
Talk to the HSE and council to improve services for young people
Campaign to remove stigma and negativity
Community
By Alex Gorman and Daniel Egan
The theme for this workshop was County Longford. The aim of the workshop was to
identify the different advantages and disadvantages that present themselves to young
people in the community. This workshop also helped young people to understand about
the different Municipal Districts in Longford.
Key Points:
Identify municipal districts
Talk about the needs of young people
Discuss possible amenities and facilities that may be needed
Dangers that face young people and perceived dangerous areas
How to create change
What would young people like to see change? :
Added facilities to pre-existing youth clubs
Extra activities for students
Public safety and well being
Homelessness
Derelict buildings to be repaired
How can Longford Comhairle change it? :
By being elected to the Longford Comhairle to participate in change
Approach council to see who owns derelict buildings to suggest a “facelift”
Work with Tidy Towns Committee
Bring these topics to the County Council
Presidential Election
By Luke Casserly and Padraig Lillis
The aim of the presidential election workshop was to hear the opinions of young people
with regard to the 2018 presidential election. It was also a means to hear about how the
young people feel about politics in general. The workshop also included a discussion on
reducing the legal voting age to sixteen.
Key Points:
Young people had a wide range of opinions on all of the presidential candidates
Young people voted overwhelmingly to support Michael D Higgins.
Majority of young people were positive about lowering the legal voting age.
What would you like to see changed? :
More investment in tourism for Longford
No Homework on weekends
Improvements on tackling stress in schools
Mental Health services and education around services that are available to young
people
Housing problems
More sporting facilities
Improved shopping
Drug decriminalization (marijuana)
More youth facilities
More jobs
How can Longford Comhairle change it? :
Work with politicians to inform them of young people’s issues
Work to educate young people on the political systems and how to bring about
change
Direct interaction with decision makers
Inclusion
By Frankie Tung and Theresa Bohan
This workshop was based around the topic of Inclusion. The aim of the workshop was
for the facilitators to find out what the opinion of young people who participated are
with regards to inclusion and the different types of inclusion and exclusion in our
community at this time. Facilitators encouraged participants to communicate the
changes they would like to see and how Longford Comhairle could help.
Key Points:
To be aware of different cultures
Stereotypes
Cliques
Perception of the difference between “Townies and Culchies”
Exclusion exists and fear of repercussions
Negative perception of “Townies”
What would you like to see change? :
More inclusion
Equality
To create more awareness
Change in attitudes
How can Longford Comhairle change it? :
Event based around culture
Invite cultures/different demographics to event
Coffee mornings/evenings for different nationalities
More activities in schools which are inclusive
More committees in smaller regions with meetings once a month
Economy
By Amy Devlin and Nicole Bohan
This workshop was named “Future Money Decisions”. The aim of this workshop was to
make young people more aware of their economy, opportunities and future decisions.
Discussion topics included The National Budget for 2019, student grants and youth
employment.
Key Points:
Discussion on Budget 2019
Discussion on available student grants
Youth jobs and unemployment
What would you like to see change? :
More grants made available to working families
A website to be created specifically for young people with regard to employment,
for example a youth “Jobs.ie”
Employers to give students more opportunities for employment.
Less stigma against young people in employment.
How can Longford Comhairle change it? :
Through the promotion of Longford’s young people for employment.
Topics to be progressed on in 2019, as voted by attendees
of Longford Comhairle na nÓg Annual General Meeting
2018:
1. Health
2. Education
3. Bullying
Many thanks to all newly elected members and youth facilitators who were crucial in the
compiling of data contained in this report on the Longford Comhairle na nÓg Annual
General Meeting.
If you have any questions, queries or wish to work with Longford Comhairle na nÓg on a
specific topic, you can contact Kathleen Mahon on 0867945677, or by email
