Galway County Comhairle na nÓg

• Coordinator name: Helen Butler
• Contact email: helen.butler@youthworkgalway.ie 
• Address:
  Galway County Council
  Áras an Chontae
  Prospect Hill
  Galway
  Co. Galway
• Tel: Maria: 086 4404724
• National Executive representative: Eimear Nic Dhonnachadha
• Facebook: Comhairle Chontae na Gaillimhe
• Instagram: Galway County Comhairle na nÓg

About us

News

Galway County Comhairle na nÓg were recently shortlisted for the Cathaoirleach’s Awards 2020 under the category of Health & Wellbeing – a huge privilege to have been recognised in a very competitive category.

Current Topics

Galway County Comhairle na nÓg will be working on the following topics in 2021:

• Body Positivity & Self-Confidence (self-image/self-love)
• Mental Health

Key actions will include social media campaigns, workshops and awareness raising initiatives

Here is a useful leaflet they recently produced to tell you all about themselves

Who are Galway County Comhairle na nOg

And here are the results of a recent survey they carried out as part of their mental health topic
to discover more about the supports provided to young people in Galway and how these could be improved

Understanding the Mental Wellbeing of Young People in Galway

 

Galway County Comhairle na nÓg share their top tips on minding your mental health 

They have been very busy over the summer, creating this series of graphics.  They’ve been sharing them out through their social media pages as inspirational posts and plan to combine them all into a printable booklet with an online version.

 

Staying positive during the Covid-19 pandemic

In response to the global pandemic, Galway County have been busy on their social media pages, reinforcing the public health messages about staying at home and focusing on the positive things we can all do to mind our mental health at this time.

 

Previous Topics

Galway County Comhairle na nÓg continued to tackle Climate Change in 2020. They also worked on the topic of mental health. Shauna Monaghan, Assistant Psychologist with the Child and Family Primary Healthcare in Roscommon, carried out a workshop with members on OCD, depression and anxiety. They are now focusing on mindfulness and One Good Adult.

Galway County Comhairle na nÓg were tackling Climate Change as their main topic in 2019. They were developing a campaign focusing on zero-waste, fast fashion, food waste and going plastic free and have been running a social media campaign to raise awareness of climate change.

Their secondary topic was on Challenging Prejudices.

2018
Galway County Comhairle are working on the topic of Ageism in 2018. Their plan is to host local area events across the county with workshops on challenging prejudices. The committee are hoping to create an educational resource out of what they learn from the workshops and for those resources to be used by young people for peer to peer work.

Their secondary topic is mental health. On 26th April 2018 they launched their fundraiser for youth mental health in the form of a 3km Colour Dash Fun Run. The ‘Colourful Minds’ fun run aims to support & promote positive mental health in young people in Tuam. Youth Work Ireland Galway currently provide free youth counselling, both 1-1 and through group programmes, but due to demand they have a 12-week waiting list at present. The young people are running to raise funds for the continuation of this much-needed service. But while this is a fundraiser, it also aimed to be a celebration of positive mental health in the Tuam Community.

 

Previous topics

Relationships and Sexual Health was Galway County Comhairle’s main topic for 2017. We hosted a series of workshops on identifying the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships.

Our secondary topic was Supporting Refugees, a joint project with Galway City Comhairle. We had fantastic success with this project and were announced the overall winners in the Community Based Youth Initiatives at the Pride of Place Awards for their work on Supporting Refugees.We undertook intercultural training to do the following: understand the Syrian Refugee crisis, support young refugees and asylum seekers to integrate in their communities, to understand the cultural differences, and to support the needs of young people leaving Direct Provision. We hosted a cultural evening to raise awareness and promote social cohesion in Galway city.

Galway County Comhairle  focused on the topic of Sexual Health and Awareness in 2016. We ran a campaign to stop unsolicited sexually explicit photos being sent via Snapchat. We surveyed young people to see what they think about how the Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) programme is being delivered in schools. They have identified issues with the programme, but we want to see if this is the same for others in the county. With the training in research skills we developed a survey to be delivered in schools and at the local area events that were held across the county in April (three during Youth Work Ireland week). We also continued our work on promoting positive mental health, as below.

Galway County Comhairle na nÓg focused on the topic of mental health in 2015. As part of our work, we made this video:

Our topic for 2013/2014 involved the creation of a Comhairle na nÓg branded Discount Card, offering a card with local discounts to young people in County Galway. To do this we linked with ISIC International and Galway Chamber of Commerce. Workshops were carried out across the electoral areas on ‘Ethical Consumption’ and considering the costs to others when we purchase goods.

In 2012/2013 Galway County Comhairle na nÓg produced a ‘Revision Guide’ focusing on students recognising their own strengths, and qualities that aid them in revision. Consultations with students were carried out across the county in the five electoral areas.

Photo Gallery