CHANGE THE WORLD:Enda Kenny, the leader of Fine Gael, had a powerful message for students at Young Social Innovators' Speak Out forum in Sligo
Every year the Young Social Innovators programme throws up trends that indicate the social issues of greatest concern to Irish young people.
Because YSI teams pick and research their own social-action projects, national Speak Out events give us a good idea of what's troubling Irish youth.
In Sligo last Thursday, at the Clarion Hotel, mental health and suicide were strong themes, following a trend that has been evident around the country this year.
Speaking at the event, the leader of Fine Gael, Enda Kenny, put his finger on the power of YSI when he said that the efforts of Young Social Innovators in raising awareness of suicide and mental health has probably saved lives already. It gave the students a buzz to be told that "through your projects you can reach out in a way that can actually save a human life". Kenny added: "Ireland will not survive the challenges of the next 40 years if we don't enable young people to speak out."
He went on to watch dozens of two-minute presentations on issues that included road safety, integration, the developing world, safe internet use and Alzheimer's disease. Perhaps the most affecting presentation came from students at Davitt College, in Castlebar, whose project on domestic abuse inspired a shadow play that drew gasps and tears from the audience. This YSI team is working to convey the damage done by domestic abuse and to help those affected by it to speak out and seek support. A moving poem composed by the students was read out against the backdrop of a violent scene played out by shadows behind a screen.
St Columba's Comprehensive School in Glenties, Co Donegal, has been researching the impact of water shortage on families in Peru. Students have spent the year raising money for a water line for a village in the country. To shake the audience out of any complacency, they brought hundreds of empty water bottles on to the stage - roughly equivalent to the amount of water an Irish family might use in a day.
Imagine, they said, no shower in the morning, and removed some of the bottles. Imagine no water for cooking or washing the dishes, they suggested, removing dozens more. They continued removing bottles until they were left with the meagre amount of clean water available to a family in Peru. The message was clear.
The most visually stunning presentation came from Jesus & Mary Secondary School, in Crossmolina, Co Mayo. Its students hope to raise awareness of organ donation and to encourage more people to carry donor cards. They took the creative and risky step of representing human organs as hats, and staged a rapid-fire fashion show. Sounds gruesome? It was, in fact, rather elegant.
The Speak Outs now move to Dundalk, and our invitation to budding social-affairs journalists is still open.
E-mail your reports on the YSI Speak Outs to lholden@irish-times.ie . We'll publish our favourites next month. The remaining forums (9.30am-1pm) are at Fairways Hotel, Dundalk (tomorrow), City Hall, Cork (Mar 4) and Red Cow Moran Hotel, Dublin (Mar 6). See www.young socialinnovators.ie
