A heated debate broke out in

Colaiste Mhuire Cabra and the Kerry

Diocesan Youth Service, Killarney

today, over whether youths there had

anything in common with people the

same age from other countries and

cultures.

In Cabra, one student contested that

we must be open to engage with all

people regardless of their cultures and

traditions. There was lively discussion

on the issue, with another student sug-

gesting that young people here would

have nothing in common with youths

of other cultures and would have noth-

ing to talk about. It was pointed out by

another student that we!re all intrinsi-

cally different and would gravitate to-

wards certain people, not because of

their cultures but for more practical

reasons, like enjoying the same music

or hobbies.

Meanwhile, students at KDYS in Kil-

larney came to similar conclusions.

One student said "If you like soccer,

you like soccer. It doesn!t matter

where you!re from.! Others pointed out

that there is already a great deal of di-

versity within their own classroom and

that young people of all backgrounds

share the same challenges in life. One

student pointed out "Just because they

are from another country, doesn!t

mean things are all that different for

them.!

The overall consensus was that cul-

tural differences were not a reason to

exclude anyone and that friendships

and connections are formed for more

important reasons than where you are

from, such as shared interests and the

ability to have fun.

-A.P.D. Citizenship reporting fromColaiste Mhuire, Cabra and KDYS,Killarney

Page 1

Students in Dublin and Killarney debate whetherthey have anything in common with youths from

other countries and cultures - an A.P.D. Citizenship report

Check out our blog at http://dailycitizens.wordpress.com or find us on facebook!

Killarney and Dublin Youth Groups to launch

Exhibition in Cork City -APD Citizenship reports

It was announced today that the work created by the students

at KDYS and Colaiste Mhuire will be exhibited in Cork City as

part of The Global Arts Participation and Development Show-

case. As well as the groups portraits and "adbuster! collages,

there will be a chance to see work by other groups from

around the country relating to a wide variety of issues. The

opening will be Friday the 6th of May in the old FAS building

on Sullivans Quay, opposite the Grand Parade, near the

Quay Co-Op. All participants in the Citizenship workshops in

Killarney and Cabra are invited to attend the exhibition if they

are able. If you are unable to attend,don!t worry. We will be

posting photos of the event on our blog at:

http://dailycitizens.worpress.com, or on our facebook page.

Page 2

Should minimum voting age be reduced to 16?- APD Citizenship reports

CHARITY

COMMUNITY

DEMOCRACY

DISCRIMINATION

EDUCATION

ELECTIONS

EQUAL

FREEDOM

LIFELONG

LONELY

POLITICS

RESPONSIBILITY

RIGHTS

SHARING

SOCIETY

SUCCESSFUL

TAKINGPART

TOGETHER

VOICE

VOTING

Daily Citizen Word SearchFind the words in the box below and then cross them off the list as

you go. We have given you one example to start you off!

An article in a leading newspaper in

October 2009 spoke about the Na-

tional Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI)

Campaign, A New Age in Voting which

called for the voting age to be reduced

to 16. The article pointed out that

young people in Ireland can work

(which would require them to pay tax!)

and join the Army below the age of 18

but they are excluded from the elec-

toral process. When this was put to

students in Colaiste Mhuire, Cabra

and KDYS, Killarney, they raised a

number of points on the issue. Stu-

dents argued that they need to have

their voices heard, that this is their

right, especially if they are expected to

participate by paying taxes. Others

proposed that it wasn!t an issue about

voting but one of education and you

shouldn!t be allowed to leave school at

16 in the first place.

At a meeting with youth councils from

Denmark, Austria and the UK, the

NYCI said that in Ireland there are dis-

parities between the rights and re-

sponsibilities of young people and that

this was a problem that needed to be

addressed. So what has changed

since 2009? Have the government lis-

tened? The campaign website dis-

plays a very poor turn-out. Of

politician!s signatures - just 16 in total

- of these, 6 are members of the

Seanad. Considering we!ve just had a

general election this displays a blatant

disregard for the voice of young peo-

ple in Ireland and an indifference to-

wards the disparity that the NYCI have

identified between their rights and their

social responsibilities.

So where do we go from here? Are 16

year olds responsible enough to go to

the Ballot Box? Is it OK to expect them

to pay taxes to a system that they can-

not be democratically involved in? Is

this a denial of their rights or a protec-

tionist measure to keep them in edu-

cation for their own good? Will a new

government listen to the NYCI cam-

paign? An interesting question consid-

ering there are no Fine Gael

supporters listed on the NYCI Cam-

paign website. A lot remains to be

seen and although the New Age in

Voting Campaign is over two years old

it still has a long way to go to achieve

its goal. To lend yo ur voice to this cam-paign or for more information checkout- www.voteat16.ie

Page 3

Letters to the Editor

Page 4

Dear Editor,

My name is Femi and I

am from Nigeria but I

have been living in Ireland for over

10 years. I feel Ireland is my home

now but I am really upset

that people still don!t accept me for

who I am. I have been called all

sorts of names over the past few

years, as have my wife and family.

I really feel that I am Irish now as I

have been here so long and I love

Irish culture. I love the shopping in

the farmers market in my area. I

want to get more involved in Irish

culture and meet more Irish peo-

ple. I want to find a way to show

people that we have a rich culture

and that we can add value to Ire-

land. What can I do?

Dear FemiIn your letter you mentioned thatyou enjoy visiting the local market inyour area as it reminds you of yourhome. Perhaps you could open amarket stall selling Nigerian prod-ucts. Like you say, the market has areal sense of community and youwould be contributing to the diver-sity of the market!Yours,KDYS, Killarney

Dear Editor,

My name is Jackie. I am

an Irish citizen. I was

born here and my mother is Irish.

My dad was from Hong Kong-I

never knew him and now I don!t

want to anyway. I am really angry

as I am so sick of people calling me

names and treating me different

because I look Asian. I wish Irish

people would realise that not

everyone who looks foreign actu-

ally is and even if they were that!s

no reason on its own to treat us so

badly. I want to do something to

show people that they shouldn!t

discriminate and that many people

who are actually Irish & have Irish

citizenship might look different but in-

side we feel the same. I just want this

discrimination to stop.

What can I do? Any suggestions?

Dear JackiePeople can be very prejudiced andjudge others for the way they look,best thing to do is ignore them, asyou know yourself you are Irish. Wedon!t have them views on you andwe feel you have the right to betreated the same as every Irish Citi-zenDon!t worry about it!Yours,Colaiste Mhuire, Cabra

Dear Editor,

l!m writing to you about the citizen-

ship workshop we did in Killarney. I

liked best the wool game it would

have been better if everyone took it

seriously, I enjoyed hearing what

other people had to say .

I did not really like the self portrait I

don't like pictures of myself, but the

posters over all were good.

When we were writing the Letters to

the Editor some people just did not

get it, they just did not see a reason

to acknowledge other cultures .

I would take part again if they run an-

other workshop.

I think young people would vote if

they could at 16 years of age, but if

they are not interested that's the way

it is .

I feel I now have a better under-

standing of how we take voting for

granted and how some people have

no vote at all .

We take it for granted what we have

(this is in relation to the Libyan war

at the moment).

Yours,

KDYS student, Killarney

!