Succesful Youth Fringe Event Held

The Dodder suite of the RDS, away from the frenetic energy of the main hall, was the scene for a gathering of the young, and the young at heart, at the Ard Fheis.

For the second year in a row, a 'Youth Fringe event’ was organised as a means of allowing young people present at the Ard Fheis to gather, and to discuss the role of youth within Sinn Féin.

This year saw a healthy crowd of more than fifty attend a talk from a panel of Sinn Féin’s finest young elected reps on what young people needed to do to make Sinn Féin relevant to their age group. The panel included Cllr Brendan Killeavy (Tullamore town council), Daithi McKay MLA (North Antrim), Toireasa Ferris (Kerry County Council), Edel Corrigan (Louth County Council) and Johnny McGibbon (Craigavon Borough council).

The speakers dealt with a wide variety of areas of concern to young people, with Daithi McKay highlighting the crucial role of the internet and new media in modern political activism, Toireasa Ferris noting the crucial role that the young people, such as Pearse Doherty, Eoin O’Broin and Matt Carthy, who came to the fore in the recent past are playing in Sinn Féin at present and how this can be replicate.

Johnny McGibbon noted the crucial role that universities play, and examined how this can be best exploited, and Edel Corrigan and Brendan Killeavy showed how working in the community on youth issues can make Sinn Féin relevant to young people.

Following the various talks, the floor was opened for a questions and answers session which saw
a number of interesting contributions, notably from Education minister Catríona Ruane.

Youth activist Mairéad Farrell attended the fringe event, and felt it built on the success of last years event, and would hopefully become a regular part of the Ard Fheis.

"The event was a great way for young people from across the country to meet up and discuss politics, and the speakers were really excellent, and gave us a great perspective on what it’s like to be a young elected rep, and what we have to do to connect with young people in modern Ireland. There is a lot of cynicism out there among young people towards politics, it takes a fresh approach and young people to connect with them, but the speakers today gave us an idea of how to successfully engage with, and represent the views of, young people."