Republican Youth Top of Agenda at Tyrone Forum

Republicans from across County Tyrone recently converged in Kelly’s Inn, for a forum that focused on streamlining the strength and support of Sinn Féin in the O’Neill County.

There was a large presence of Ógra activists and young republicans, with republican youth high on the agenda.



The forum was introduced by leading republican activist Sean Hughes, who is chair of Sinn Féin’s Organisational Development Unit. Sean gave a strategic breakdown at the current time.

There were also contributions from MLA’s Barry McElduff, Pat Doherty, Francie Molloy, Claire Magill, and Agricultural Minister Michelle Gildernew.

Veteran republican Stan Corrigan also addressed the crowd on being innovative and fresh in our approach to commemorations, before Joint First Minister Martin McGuinness gave a leadership briefing.

The main focus of the day however, and the talk which received the warmest round of applause was a talk on ‘Republican Youth – Where we are at, Where we are going!’ by Ógra activists Kerry McColgan and Laura Gildernew.

Kerry spoke about the growth of Ógra across Tyrone in recent years, with cumann now, in all corners of the County, and how a simple mix of organization, education, level headedness and most importantly steady activism, has ensured this constant growth. She also spoke of the many initiatives and campaigns that Ógra have been involved in, and the many educational weekends, and events that have been successfully undertaken.

Laura focused on where we need to go, and what we can do to build outside of the existing base, she urged the senior party to be continually supportive, and not defensive of young republicans coming through the ranks. She stressed that only with a healthy, open and welcoming environment can we hope to attract even more republican youth activists. She talked about different campaigns that can be initiated and different issues tackled to ensure that the party and young republicans have their finger on the pulse of the most pressing youth issues in Tyrone.

Both young women got a warm round of applause and many of the older activists, particularly female, thanked them for their contributions and confidence, noting that 10 or 20 years ago, they would not have held the same confidence, in such a male dominated environment. They paid testament to the strong work of Ógra on engaging youth, and on gender equality, particularly recruiting, educating and training young female activists.

Speaking on a very successful Sinn Féin Tyrone forum, Ógra activist, Sean Gillespie said,

“It was great to have so many key activists from across Tyrone, making themselves more informed, and setting out solid ideas for the future. It was particularly heartening to see the strong emphasis on young republicans, with Kerry and Laura delivering very inspirational and sound speeches on measures that we need to take in order to ensure we not only retain, but increase our support and activist base across the County.”

“Tyrone has a very strong republican youth base, with Ógra cumann covering every corner of it. The message was very clear from that meeting though, that no one is resting on our laurels and it will be a constant and vigilant drive to ensure the successful continuation of this struggle, by engaging and winning constant support from a new generation.”