Minister of State for community development, integration and charities, Joe O’Brien, today (Tuesday, October 3) opened the third sitting of the National Rural Youth Assembly.
The Assembly gathered approximately 65 delegates, aged between 12-25 years, at Dublin Castle to discuss the challenges and opportunities for young people participating in civic society in rural Ireland.
The young people travelled from across the country, from areas such as Donegal, Kerry, and the islands, to discuss the opportunities, challenges and benefits of civic participation in rural Ireland and to make recommendations for consideration by rural policymakers.
National Rural Youth Assembly
The gathering provides policymakers with the opportunity to listen to the views of young people from across rural Ireland, and ensure their voices are heard, as part of the ongoing dialogue on the rural development policy process.
The Department of Community and Rural Development said that the establishment of the Assembly in 2021 delivered on a commitment in Our Rural Future, the government’s rural development policy.
The idea to host an annual National Rural Youth Assembly was proposed by young people themselves during the policy consultation process.
This Rural Youth Assembly has now been incorporated into the wider programme of the National Youth Assembly of Ireland supported by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
Roderic O’Gorman, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth congratulated the National Rural Youth Assembly and said: “This annual Assembly is an important milestone for government in ensuring that the voice of children and young people are included in the policies that we make.
“I welcome the commitments that government has made to consider the views of young people on rural development.”
Meanwhile, Minister O’Brien said: “I was delighted to welcome the young people who attended today’s Assembly in person.
“I was very impressed by their engagement and discussions on the theme of civic participation and I thank them for their contributions.
“The hugely diverse group in attendance recognises the importance of young people’s input to policy-making. The fact that they had travelled from all parts of the country represents the variety of communities, towns and villages across rural Ireland.
“It is important that our young people have a voice in decisions which affect them, in order that those decisions help support rural areas which offer young people the potential to plan for a future that allows them remain in, or return to, their local communities to live, study, socialise and work,” the minister added.