Write a commentThe Newry and Mourne Youth Council have held their Annual Elections for office bearer roles at an event in the council chamber at Monaghan Row. They elected 7 Youth Councillors to the various roles such as Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and Public Relations Officer.
Newry and Mourne Youth Council are a group of young people who act as a representative voice of young people from the Newry & Mourne area. They develop social action programmes based on issues identified by young people as important to them. The group are supported by the Education Authority Youth Service and are based at the Youth Resource Centre, Carnbane in Newry. They also run the Youth and Future Talent Awards (YAFTAs) in partnership with Down Youth Council. The awards were created by the Newry & Mourne Youth Council in 2013 to help raise the positive profiles of the work young people are involved in across our district and aim to highlight the “unsung heroes” who do not normally receive recognition.
Council Chairperson Cllr Charlie Casey commented that the council are delighted to support our Children and Young People and particularly in the month of November this year, which marks the 30th anniversary of the UN convention of the rights of the child.
The Youth Councillors are all mostly new to the Youth Council this year as many members progressed on to University and Employment, so they held their elections a little later than normal so that everyone could get to know each other better. This enabled the Youth Councillors to be able to make the best choices for each individual role and cast their vote on who they though best fitted each role.
The Youth Council had a number of Youth Councillors stand for each individual office bearer role where they explained why they wanted to run and what they could bring to that role, it was a tough decision but the votes were cast and the elected Youth Councillors happily accepted their new position within the Youth Council. The new office bearers will meet at a later date to discuss their plans for the Youth Council and what they envision for its future, they will also receive training on their new roles and create strong links with the other Youth Councils/Comhairle Na nOgs.
The Youth Councillors
Chairperson Odhran McAllister
Vice Chairperson Siún Ní Dhomhnaill
Secretary Shannon Clarke
Treasurer Hareth Khan
Public Relations Officers Emma Hughes & Chino Abela
With office bearers in place the Youth Council is looking at plans for the upcoming year, for social action programmes around issues affecting young people, cross border programme looking at cross border issues, 3 C’s programme linking in with Lewisham Young Mayors programme in London, different charity events to help raise funds for local charities and also their flagship programme the YAFTAs which is in its 7th year.
