All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit 30.04.2018

On Monday 30th April members of the previous Comhairle National Executive from Dublin City, Louth,  Leitrim  and Longford participated in the All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit which took place in Dundalk. All four had previously been involved in consultations on Brexit. Katie McGuinness, former representative on Louth Comhairle na nOg National Executive, and Paul Dockery from Young Voices, presented on the main points made by young people on Brexit at the DCYA Brexit conference in 2017 including the impact on education, travel, employment, democracy, sports and culture and immigration.

This was the fourth plenary meeting of the All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit and was formally attended by An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tanáiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney and special guest Michel Barnier, Chief Negotiator on the EU’s taskforce. The plenary session provided participants with an update on the main developments in these negotiations, including the all-island aspects, and considered how both communities and businesses can continue preparations for Brexit. A key focus of the plenary  was “Looking to the post Brexit Future – a Youth Perspective” – a session examining how young people can respond to the challenges posed by the UK exit from the European Union. Panelists included Helen McEntee T.D. Minister of State for European Affairs, Oisín Hassan, USI Vice-President for Academic Affairs, and four young people mentioned above representing the Comhairle National Executive and NYCI’s Young Voices. This was chaired by Dearbhail McDonald, Group Business Editor of Independent Newspapers and was followed by audience participation in a Q&A session.

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