Youth Forum in Farmleigh, Your Europe - Your say

Where: Farmleigh House, Phoenix Park, Dublin

When: Thursday, 18th October

Time: 10am to 4pm

Who can attend? Young people aged 15 and over

Cost: None (Lunch is provided and travel expenses will be reimbursed)

The National Forum On Europe, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the National Youth Council of Ireland are to hold a special Youth Forum to discuss the recent Communication on Youth from the European Commission. The document focuses on the European Union’s role in promoting young people’s full participation in education, employment and society.

This event will gather together a selection of participants from the Forum’s wide-ranging Youth programme in recent years. It will include representatives of six National Youth Fora, held in Dublin , Cork , Sligo , Limerick and Waterford in the past two years as well as finalists from the Forum’s Transition Year Public Speaking Competition. It will also include representatives from members organisations of the National Forum On Europe and National Youth Council of Ireland.

The Youth Forum will take place from 10am to 4pm on Thursday 18th October in Farmleigh House in Dublin’s Phoenix Park . The morning session will provide an opportunity for young people to explore the issues in small informal discussion groups. Members of the Communication Group of the European Economic and Social Committee will also participate in the debates. The outcomes of the morning deliberations will then be debated with a panel of Forum Members in the afternoon, which will include senior figures in national politics and civil society. These discussions will then be incorporated into the results of the wider debate taking place within the Forum at national level.

These debates will form part of the next Chairman’s report to go to Government. The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern TD, in a recent address to the Forum, noted that these reports are “an important contribution to the development of policy on Europe.” At European level, the deliberations will also become part of the formal record of the EESC. This upcoming forum should therefore be seen as a valuable opportunity for young people to make a meaningful contribution to their future.

The conference is aimed at young people over fifteen years old.

Email: eyou@forumoneurope.ie or call 016705900 for further information