About Dáil na nÓg

Dáil na nÓg is the annual national parliament for young people aged between 12-18 years. Delegates are elected to Dáil na nÓg through their local Comhairle na nÓg.

The OMCYA  is responsible for funding and overseeing Dáil na nÓg. Since 2003, a consortium comprising the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI), Foroige and Youth Work Ireland has organised Dáil na nÓg in cooperation with the OMCYA. The involvement of these youth organisations has been a major asset in the development of Dáil na nÓg.

Successive independent evaluations note that Dáil na nÓg has gone from strength to strength, with more challenging and contentious debate each year.

Dáil na nÓg Council

One representative from each Comhairle na nÓg is elected to the Dáil na nÓg Council which follows up on the recommendations from the Dáil and tries to make changes for young people in those areas.

The Council has a term of office of one year and is supported by the OMCYA and the NYCI. A number of projects and initiatives have been developed through the work of the Dáil na nÓg Council in recent years, including:

• Student Council Resources
• The National Recreation Policy for Young People
• Working with the Road Safety Authority on improving its schools' programmes
• The development of Teenspace.ie – a website on facilities and activities for teenagers (www.teenspace.ie).

The young people in the 2007 Council set up the 'Fairsay Campaign' to highlight the negative portrayal of teenagers in the media and encourage the media to more often focus on positive achievements and aspirations of teenagers. This campaign was supported by the Minister for Children and by the OMCYA and has been very successful. The young people were extensively interviewed in the print and broadcast media.

For more information on Dáil na nÓg: (www.dailnanog.ie).