Dublin City Comhairle na nÓg

• Coordinator name: Mary Mooney
• Contact email: mary.mooney@dublincity.ie
• Address:
  Dublin City Council,
  Children Services Unit, Culture, Recreation and Economic Department,
  3 Palace Street,
  Dublin 2.
  Tel: 01 222-5394 |  086 601 4215
• National Executive representative: Emma Whelan
• Facebook: Dublin City Comhairle
  
• Instagram:   dublincitycomhairle           youngdublincity
• Twitter: @DCCcomhairle

About us

Dublin City Comhairle na nÓg get creative…

I’m A Poet! is a showcase of work by the brilliantly creative and talented Ealaín na nÓg – an arts sub-group of Dublin City Comhairle na nÓg.  This video is the outcome of a series of online workshops with spoken word artist Natalya O’Flaherty. 

Current topics:

Dublin City Comhairle na nÓg focused their attention in 2021 on LGBTI+ issues for young people. Their aim is to raise awareness on the topic and have been working towards developing a series of vibrant infographics for sharing on social media. Comhairle members have also undergone training on the topic. See their key actions below:

Action 1: 

• Sharing LGBTQIA+ infographics on Social media

 Action 2: 

• To create an LGBTQIA+ pledge pack for Dublin City Comhairle membership schools.
• We also sent some of the packs to LGBTI+ groups and other Comhairle.
• The pledge we created contains a number of actions that we felt were important to us as young people and as members of Dublin City Comhairle.
• With the pledge we hope that schools will look at how they can support LGBTQIA+ youth in their school.
• The pack also included LGBTQIA+ material bags, badges, flags and bookmarks.

To link in with Pride on Saturday 26th June. Dublin City Comhairle launched their LGBTQIA+ pledge on social media. The idea with the pledge is that people share it and endorse it. The pledge is not just for young people, it is for everyone. Check out their social media pages to get involved  #weareallequal

 

Future Talks – youth climate event

Future Talks #chatsforchange, was a virtual youth climate event organised by Dublin City Comhairle for young people aged 11-17. It’s an educational, participatory event featuring young speakers and climate influencers as well as adults and it is open to all 11-17-year-olds nationwide. The event took place on Saturday the 10th of October.

There were talks on everything from the future of the planet to sustainable fashion.

Staying active and engaged during lockdown 

Dublin City Comhairle have been running a Daily diary on their Instagram page here.   They have also been sharing positive quotes, recipes, book recommendations, ways to be active and creative things people can do during lockdown. They started a 2km walk competition and have been sharing their pictures of that. They have also worked on developing fabulous infographics on how to make environmentally-friendly face masks

 

 

Dublin City Comhairle had beenworking on Climate Change as a priority in 2020.

In February they met with an expert panel who advised us on how to progress our topic further and how they can best support us in our work. The panel was made up of the following people:
1. Deputy Lord Mayor Tom Brabazon
2. Codema
3. Flossie Environmental Activist
4. ECO-UNESCO
5. CARO (Climate Action Regional Office)
6. Dublin Biosphere Coordinator

Our next step was to take all the information we had gathered and as a group we would focus on an outcome in relation to climate change.

However, our work direction has changed slightly with the current Covid-19 situation. We are working to stay connected as a group and we are shifting our focus to having a positive voice online. We are sharing tips on how to mind your mental health and engaging with young people by asking them questions.

Some of their members are starting to share their experiences as young people on the Instagram page during this time. They are doing this via the two Instagram pages (links above). They intend sending out a questionnaire to reach a wider audience of young people and to get their views.

 

NEWS: 

Dublin City Comhairle na nÓg have entered into any exciting partnership with the Dublin City Arts Office. A sub-group have been working with The Lab (Dublin City Council Arts Office) to develop a creative space where young people meet to exchange information, learn more about the arts and to develop their artistic interest. The result is Ealaín na nÓg: a space for making new friends & sharing artistic practices, ideas and skills. The first meeting took place on Wednesday, 4 December 2019 at The LAB on Foley St, Dublin 1.

The sessions will take place bi-monthly in the Lab and artists will be invited to do workshops as part of the sessions. The sessions will be lead and organised by the Arts Sub Group.

2019

Dublin City Comhairle na nÓg were working on the topic of Education in 2019. They focused on developing a life-skills booklet for schools which was launched in December. You can download the PDF here. Some details of the different areas covered in this resource are as follows:

• Money: opening a bank account, loans and finances, taxes and employment

• Politics and Active Citizenship: how to register to vote, how the voting system works, why you should vote, how referendums & general elections work, how TDs vote on topics & extra resources

• Living Well/Independently: CVs and applying for jobs, driving, food, transport, budget, LGBTQ and abroad

• Health: physical health, sexual health, mental health and substance use

• Education: websites, Points System, Study tips and How to Study and Career Guidance

 

Meet some of our members and find out what Comhairle means to them and why they joined

 

Dublin City Council Social Media Sub Group:
Dublin City Comhairle are working with the Web and Social Media section in Dublin City Council. They are working on creating an online platform that will be run and managed by Dublin City Comhairle members. This group was established to represent youth voices as part of Dublin City Councils online presence.

 

2018

The 2018 working topic for Dublin City Comhairle na nÓg was youth mental health & wellbeing.  They explored what mental health and wellbeing means to them and what they can do to highlight the issue. They decided upon a campaign piece #conversationmatters  to be followed by a youth mental health event which took place on 26th September in the Oak Room in The Mansion House. Their campaign is all about taking that first step and starting a conversation. The two words “Wanna Talk” can mean so much to the person behind the screen.
You can find out more about their campaign and a listing of the supports services for young people here:

Comhairle members worked closely with the following organisations to develop their campaign: Jigsaw Dublin, First Fortnight, Walk in My Shoes, SpunOut.ie and St. Patrick’s Mental Health Services.

Dublin City Comhairle have also developed a “Positivity Box” as part of their working topic. Each young person submitted a tip on how they to mind their mental health and well being. The “Positivity Box “will be trialed in three schools to further encourage the conversation about youth mental health.

Other Work:
This year they have engaged in consultations with:

• Dublin City Libraries as part of their new plan for the Libraries. They wanted their thoughts on how young people engage with libraries and what they would change.
• Cruinniú: a creative festival for children in local communities across the country which took place on Saturday, 23 June. it is supported by Local Authorities and funded by Creative Ireland.
• Hub na nÓg consulted with Dublin City Comhairle members to ask what type of activities we wanted to see happen on the day.
• They will be working with Niamh Ni Cholmain Biodiversity Facilitator in Dublin City Council in the coming months around our topic of youth Mental Health & Well Being.
• They went on an annual overnight team building trip to Carlingford Adventure Centre on the 28th March. Everyone had great fun trying out different activities including Zip wiring and laser Tag.
• They are working with The Arts Office in Dublin City Council for their Young Dublin Assembly Event happening on the 15th June in Dublin. As part of that work they will interview heads of Departments in Dublin City Council and ask them about Creativity and the Rights of the Child. On the day itself Comhairle members will facilitate a workshop focused on Creativity and the Rights of the Child.

 

Work already completed:
Dublin City Comhairle’s key topic for 2017 was homelessness, with a focus on youth homelessness. Our action plan was to launch a campaign that supports and raises awareness of young people in emergency accommodation with their families. Our focus is particular has been on children in care, and in particular the challenges they face upon leaving the care system at eighteen. Ideas we have explored include hosting an awareness day, engaging with organisations that work with and support children in care, creating a video on children in care and their experience, and establishing a Needs Charter for children in care. We have connected with organisations like EPIC and Tulsa to help us develop our idea further. Dublin.ie wrote a feature article about us and our topic in June 2017. You can read it here: https://dublin.ie/learning/articles/dublin-citys-comhairle-na-nog/

NEWS: Dublin City Comhairle hosted their Showcase event on youth homelessness in Smock Alley on Wednesday 20th September. The Showcase was formally launched by Deputy Lord Mayor Councillor Áine Clancy. As part of our programme of work, we created a video and a Charter of Care to address the stigma that surrounds young people in care, raise awareness about the issues that young people face when leaving the care system at 18 and advocate for change. The showcase event in Smock Alley was used to officially launch the video and the Charter of Care. A number of organisations that work with young people will also take part in the event including Focus Ireland, Irish Youth Music Awards, Tusla, Jigsaw, Belong To, Spunout.ie, Epic. You can watch our video here:

In early 2017 some Comhairle members took part in a civic engagement consultation with Robert Chaskin, a Professor from the University of Chicago, now working with the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre at NUI Galway. He wanted to know what our thoughts were on citizenship and civic engagement. We spoke about our involvement in Comhairle, our thoughts on politics and how we, as young people, form our opinions in relation to what is going on in society and how it affects us.

We were invited by the Arts Office in Dublin City Council to have an input into the Dublin bid for European Capital of Culture 2020. We will be meeting with them for Tea & Chats: you can read more about it here

This terrific video was made by the creative young people of Dublin City’s Comhairle na nÓg  to tell the story of Dublin Bay and its UNESCO Biosphere in their own words. www.dublinbaybiosphere.ie  Following up from consultation and work with Dublin City Council’s Biodiversity Unit in 2015, Dublin City Comhairle na nÓg members created this innovative video for young people on Dublin Bay Biosphere in 2016. The video was launched by the Lord Mayor of Dublin City Brendan Carr after which the Daily Mirror featured an article on the video. It also featured on News2day on RTE.

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/watch-amazing-video-shows-unbelievable-8404288#ICID=nsm

Members were congratulated at the UNESCO summit in Peru and interviewed by RTE2 TV News2Day. This interview can be viewed here:

http://www.rte.ie/bosco/components/player/iframe.html?clipid=10619252

UNESCO Summit: Peru 2016

In a message to Comhairle na nÓg members, Meriem Bouamrane of UNESCO said, “The passionate video you have designed shows very clearly what a Biosphere is: a celebration of life and a long term commitment for people to care for each other while connecting with nature. You are inspiring examples for your peers, for your parents, for adults and for the World Network of Biospheres. You are inspiring examples for your peers, for your parents, for adults and for the World Network of Biospheres.  You are demonstrating that young people care about this planet and play a vital role in our societies to benefit both the local and global communities.“

Education System & Emotional Counselling.

Dublin City Comhairle’s primary topic for 2016 focused on the Education System. We progressed our topic by making a video for teachers about their students’ problems, and for students about how to deal with teachers and school. We aim to distribute this to all schools in Dublin City in 2016 – 17. We will liaise with organisations to bring in proper emotional counselling. We will conduct research on issues and a survey to find out the needs of young people in Dublin City. We aim to submit our proposal to the Department of Education & Skills along with statistics and surveys and demand government commitment. You can watch our video below.

The video has a cast of fifteen young people and focuses on issues which may affect performance in the classroom. It forms part of the 2016 working topic along with two surveys on the education system and emotional counselling. One survey is for teachers and youth workers in second level education, and the second survey is for completion by young people. Additional to this, the Comhairle have submitted an assessment of the DEIS school programme with a focus on the need for emotional counselling to the Department of Education & Skills. All the Comhairle members had a direct input into the DEIS submission.

On the 9th January 2015 in the Mansion House, Dublin City Comhairle na nÓg were presented with a Community & Recreation Centre Volunteer Award by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr. Christy Burke, in recognition for their work to make the 13 recreation centres of Dublin City more youth friendly. They wrote a report with recommendations on how these centres can be improved for young people in Dublin City. To date, three centres (East Wall, Sherriff Street and Pearse Street) have been renovated and the recommendations made by the young people in Dublin City Comhairle na nÓg have been implemented. Work is ongoing in the other 10 recreation centres and will be completed early this year. See pics below.

Dublin City Comhairle na nÓg members made this video to encourage young people to make a submission to the new Dublin City Development Plan 2016-2022. Jim Keogan, Executive Manager, Dublin City Council wrote to Dublin City Comhairle na nÓg members inviting them to make a submission to the new development plan. 41 members of Dublin City Comhairle na nÓg had a direct input into the Development Plan submission. The views and opinions from two Comhairle na nÓg AGMs (2013 & 2014), which were each attended by approximately 200 young people, were also included when preparing this submission.

Dublin City Comhairle worked on the topic of Youth Services in 2015. At our AGM in October 2014,  youth services was chosen as the topic for Comhairle members to work on for the year. Since then members have analysed all the information discussed by the 200 young people at the AGM and hosted a meeting with a panel of experts working in youth services. Members used this information to vote and decide on their work plan for the year. In 2015, members were busy lobbying to get a Jigsaw project in Dublin City and aim to open a youth café in one of the Dublin City Council Recreation Centres.

Over the last two years, Dublin City Comhairle members have been busy working on the topics of Mental Health and Cyber-bullying. Members made a DVD called “Dare to Talk” which was launched as part of a music event “Dare to Listen” and highlighted the importance of music to young people’s Mental Health. Comhairle members designed a feel-good booklet called “Be a Cyber Buddy….Not a Cyber Bully” which included art, poetry, advice and links. Members also worked on a Recreation Centre Project where we visited some of Dublin City Council’s Recreation Centres and made recommendations to make the centres more youth friendly.

Dublin City Comhairle na nÓg recently completed work  on the SMILE initiative which was a series of events raising awareness about youth mental health. Comhairle members made a DVD called “Dare to Talk” which will be a resource for young people, schools, youth services and community groups to support young people in maintaining good mental health. The DVD is comprised of five different clips which highlight the importance of communication and one good adult – see below.

Comhairle members organised a music event “Dare to Listen” in the Academy to highlight the importance of music to young people’s Mental Health. They invited organisations such as Spunout, Reachout and Teenline to provide information to young people on how to look after their Mental Health and the support that is available to young people going through a hard time. Comhairle members wrote and produced their own song about Mental Health called “Tunnel Lights”. The song and the making of it are shown on the DVD.

In 2012 we developed the Bullying Action Team (BAT) initiative which is a peer-led approach to tackling the issue of bullying in schools. Two schools in Dublin City are piloting the initiative at the moment. We will continue to monitor the progress made in these pilots and advocate for more schools and decision makers to adopt this student-led approach.

Photo Gallery