Young people lead the way to improve their communities

FIFTY participants of the Northside Partnership’s Young Community Leaders’ (YCL) programme were invited to the Mansion House recently by Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Christy Burke.

The programme encourages young people to become the future leaders of their communities in the Northside Partnership area.

The event was an opportunity for the leaders to hear from Declan Egan, founder of 100Minds.org, and the Deputy Lord Mayor, Cllr Larry O’Toole.

Future success of Ireland will be built on strong leadership and this event brought together the current leaders of Dublin with the next generation of advocates for community action.

Declan Egan inspired the audience with his own story of moving from a

“mediocre

? experience of school to success in a global company and finally to quitting the day job to set up a charity that is making a real difference in the world.

The secret to his success was clearly linked to self-belief.

“I wasted a lot of time berating myself and it was only when I started believing in myself that I made things happen,

? he said.

Young Community Leader graduate Allie Sheehan said it was inspiring to see how things turned around for him when Mr Egan started thinking positively about himself.

Cllr O’Toole shared his leadership story, reminding everyone that

“the mission of leadership is to make a difference

?.

He also had words of praise for all the young community leaders in the audience.

“I am encouraged and delighted to see the enthusiasm in the group for doing what you’re doing and making the world a better place,

? he told them.

The event opened with a presentation from a group of Young Community Innovators (graduates of the Northside Partnership Young Community Leaders’ programme) who were announcing their #YCI4Equality campaign for a Yes vote in the upcoming Marriage Equality referendum.

Tiernan Brady, Director of Policy for the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN), said:

“This is what winning looks like. This referendum will be won by local community action like this.

?

This month the Young Community Innovators will launch their

‘Tie the Knot’ campaign, using the international symbol for marriage equality, a white knot.

For more information on the programme, visit www.northsidepartnership.ie/young-community-leaders