Cathal Crowe
Question:84. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will provide an update on the work of the Rural Youth Assembly. [19247/23]
View answerTuesday, 25 April 2023
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Our Rural Future, is the whole-of-Government policy for the sustainable development of rural Ireland. Policy measure 73 of the plan commits to ‘Establish an annual Rural Youth Assembly to allow young people living in rural Ireland to make an on-going contribution to identifying and influencing policy issues that impact on them and their future.’
My Department holds lead responsibility for this commitment, and has established a Rural Youth Assembly under the umbrella of the National Youth Assembly of Ireland.
The inaugural national Rural Youth Assembly took place virtually on 16 November 2021, in partnership with the Department of Children, Equality, Diversity, Integration and Youth’s National Participation Office. Within the assembly, young people from rural areas aged between 12-18 years discussed issues of importance to them. These included the challenges and opportunities associated with living, studying and socialising in rural Ireland.
The Rural Youth Assembly continued as part of the National Youth Assembly series, with my Department hosting a second event on 14 July 2022. The event was held in person, with approximately 50 young people aged between 12-25 years participating in workshops on the day. At the closing session, a series of recommendations, developed by the young people, was presented for consideration.
Reports containing the details of these events and the outcomes are available on my Department's website.
One of the themes of the 2022 Assembly was ‘Leaders of the Future’. Subsequently, this theme and the emerging recommendations fed into a discussion of a Youth Panel at the 13th OECD Rural Development Conference in Cavan, (28-30 September 2022), the theme of which was ‘Young People as Future Leaders in Rural Communities’.
Arrangements are now being put in place for this year’s Rural Youth Assembly event, due to take place in October. The event will build upon the enthusiasm and momentum experienced across the assembly events to date.