The Irish langauge, the X-Case and youth voices heard: Being Young And Irish Seminar concludes

President Higgins with participants at the Young and Irish Seminar
with the Minister for Children , Frances Fitzgerald

After months of preparation, discussion and debate, President Michael D Higgins’ much-vaunted Being Young And Irish seminar season reached its culmination at Áras An Uachtaráin on Saturday 17^th November. And what a day it was.

Scores of young people from all over the country came to the Hyde Room to issue the “Take Charge of Change” Declaration, the piece de résistance of a lengthy consultation that took in the  views of nearly a thousand young people at home and abroad.

A building as grand as the Áras is pretty good impetus for work on that scale, but moreso is a speech from the President himself, who in his barnstorming opening remarks said that “There is no part of our lives that should not be subject to critical review”. In the ensuing workshop discussions, the young people in attendance went on to very much prove him right.

During the seminar we were presented with analysis from DIT as to what was considered the most important topics throughout the whole consultation, with top of the list perhaps unsurprisingly employment, enterprise and social security, closely followed by political reform, education and equality and involving young people. But it was when young people started voting on what to include in their Declaration vision and what needed to make it a reality was far from predictable.

In a gripping session of instant voting, each table would propose various things to include (or exclude) from the final declaration, and as this was the last chance saloon to include what they thought though important for the country, the young people put their cases passionately. Some of the choices, such as a proposal to add the word “empowered” in a section pertaining to caring for vulnerable people and changing “bilingual” to multilingual” were passed easily, but others were not such slam dunks. A proposal, for example, to mention civil liberties in the declaration narrowly failed by 51% to 49%. And while a resolution to mention political reform sailed through, one that mentioned transparency and accountability was defeated by six points. From there, the debate intensified.

When a vote was taken to arrange the priorities on how to achieve their vision, the young people in the room’s top five was, to considerable surprise, headed by an emphatic commitment to the Irish language, with the social development of the language placing third. A call to legislate for the hot button X-Case placed second, with the top five rounded up by a strong statement for marriage and adoption equality and absentee ballots for Irish citizens abroad. More on that one, no doubt, in future columns.

But it was the noticeable lack of any reference to health, especially mental health, in the Top 5 that caused one of the biggest stirs of the day. Some claimed if those were the priorities, he’d probably be emigrating. But it was Aisling Concannon, Officer for Students with Disabilities at Trinity College, who became the de facto spokesperson of the case for mental health as a priority. She became the focal point of the discussion after stating on Twitter she was “livid that priorities were all wrong”, and that given the importance of the topic at earlier discussions (and in general), it was very disappointing that it didn’t feature. 

When I talked to her afterwards, she thought it was scant consolation that while health came up as a topic, it wouldn’t be mentioned in the declaration, especially given the age group represented in the room. “The people reading the declaration won’t know how much time we spent on it in the workshops. (For health as an issue) to get noticed and get attention it should have been in there, and should have been one of the prime points in there.”

While Aisling maintains her crusade for more attention to mental health (and a more holistic approach to health in general) in other ways, once the voting was done the President came back for the final declaration, and was clearly delighted with the outcome. “If anyone is still affected by the myth”, he said, “that young people are disengaged, here is your answer”, and insisted that the consultation not become “a lost conversation, it must find a real, rapid, positive response”. One hope for such a response is the Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald, who also spoke at the Declaration. Her speech, apparently pre-prepared, was slightly cautious and bloodless but that did not dim the positivity and determination of the room, who in their declaration committed themselves to action, to fighting apathy and encouraging participation. In fact, within hours of the Being Young seminar concluding, a legacy project was set up which will meet by the end of the year.

In 1916, Padraig Pearse made his Proclamation of the Republic to a handful of bewildered passers-by outside the GPO. In that Proclamation, he put the case for cherishing all the children of the nation equally. 96 years later, a small bit up the road, hundreds of young people of the nation followed that legacy not just by asserting their voice and engaging in debate, but also committing their actions. The seminar may be over, but the work is just beginning.

You can see the full report here:

Belfast's Marie Stopes clinic -- the last thing vulnerable women need is a culture war over abortion

Dawn Purvis at the Marie Stopes clinic in Belfast

At the very start of October, I became one of the official diaspora. I have a new job (in the glamorous world of TV production) in a new city (Manchester) and generally couldn’t be more chuffed.

What I am decidedly unchuffed about though is news from the city I left behind: Belfast. It seems that the unholy (and I use that term advisedly) forces of anti-choice zealotry are to descend upon Great Victoria Street this week to protest a Marie Stopes clinic that is opening there and eventually try to shut it down. Those opposing the clinic such as politician Jim Allister, a man who has found himself back in the 1950’s without a DeLorean, and Precious Life spokeswoman Bernadette Smyth claim that there is no need or want for such a clinic in Northern Ireland. Riiiight...

1,007 women went to England and Wales from Northern Ireland last year for an abortion. Expressed as a percentage of the whole population that accounts for 0.056% of the population; a twentieth of a percent. Bernadette Smyth suggests herself the amount of women traveling for abortions has reduced by a third over the last 15 years.  So why then, given the NI public’s supposed attitudes to abortion and the statistically miniscule amount of women from there who’ve availed of them, does a Marie Stopes clinic constitute such a moral menace? You’d think if that was the case they’d just let them set up, see tumbleweed go through their premises, lose money and pack up again. But no, logic never was one of the hallmarks of the Every Sperm Is Sacred Patrol.

Read more: Major security for Northern Ireland’s first abortion clinic in Belfast

Alas, the abortion debate lies uneasily at the intersection between compassionate pragmatism and pupil-dilating absolutism. The Marie Stopes clinic will provide a range of sexual health services, one of which will be providing a pill for women up to nine weeks pregnant to take if they, for only the most serious health reasons, no longer wish to be pregnant. Even though Northern Ireland’s abortion laws are literally an era behind the rest of the UK (abortion has been legal since 1967 in England, Wales and Scotland), this much is currently legal. And yet, as is the case in the South, hardline anti-choicers want to take something that isn’t legal (and isn’t even under threat of becoming legal any time soon) and make it super duper illegal.

One thing pro and anti choice people do agree on though is that the ideal number of abortions a year would be zero. But, living as we do in a far from ideal world, there has to be some facility for those thousand or so women who desperately need help. If it were only one woman in the whole province in need of that help, the Marie Stopes clinic’s presence would still be justified.

But try telling that to those who proclaim to be pro-life but never say a word about a child’s welfare post-womb, picket services for vulnerable women and throw words like “murder” around while they’re doing it. It never fails to amaze that for people who seem to care so deeply about the life of the unborn, they can be so callous in their treatment of actual human beings.

President Higgins' last big push to hear the voice of the diaspora - Seeking a new vision of Ireland

Ireland's President Michael D Higgins wants to hear from the Diaspora

The President’s landmark series of Young & Irish seminars may nearly be at an end (the final seminar takes place this weekend in Galway) but there is still a chance for young Irish people abroad to have their say on the burning issues affecting them, with the deadline for submissions to The President being the 29^th September. In fact, that’s why the seminars are so-called.

Speaking to a small group of reporters (of which I was one) on Saturday in Monaghan, President Higgins revealed that originally the title of the series was Young in Ireland, but was amended to facilitate the great throngs of young people who have since left the country and to make sure they were not forgotten. Higgins takes his role as President of all the people of Ireland very seriously and is confident that the emigration of now is not the same as that of the 50’s or 80’s, due in no small part to the advances in technology. He said that Ireland’s young people abroad, no matter how let down by the country they’ve felt, are determined not to turn their back on the country and noted that submissions to him both foreign and domestic were very similar in tone and scope. No matter where they were, young Irish people’s hopes and dreams for the country were one and the same.

One thing that has been remarkable about the seminars so far is the way in which the young people attending have responded to the President, and how he responded to them. During the day he said that no young person wanted anything at the expense of anyone else, they just wanted a better Ireland. In a world where young people are often portrayed as selfish, wanton and inert, it goes a very long way to hear someone in authority say that as clearly as President Higgins. Young people respond to him because of the clear respect he shows them, and his want and need to go to bat for young people is clear.

And ultimately, that is what we all, not just young people need: someone to go to bat for us. To fight our corner. To be an assuring force in a very uncertain world. The scope of the Being Young & Irish seminars is very wide and everything from education and innovation to tourism, sport and national pride have been mentioned in the discussions, and they’re vitally important things. But, the world could be instantly made better with two things taken into consideration: that your opinions and aspirations as a citizen no matter your status matters, and that the hard work and effort you do to express them and make it real is appreciated. President Higgins knows this, and lives this.

All over the world, young people from Ireland are currently living and working, trying to make their way in the world, but not giving up hope on the country from whence they came. If you’re one of those young people, The President wants to hear from you, and though your vision for Ireland might be several years down the road, Michael D Higgins wants to travel it with you. 

You can submit your vision of Ireland to the President by the 29th September at http://www.president.ie/makeasubmission/

Being Young And Irish - what are Ireland's young people saying about their country?

Michael D Higgins and Ireland's Youth at the Being Young & Irish launch

This weekend is going to be an eventful one for me. Not only are my home country of Donegal playing in their first All-Ireland since before I received my first holy communion, but it's also the northern leg of President Higgins' series of Being Young & Irish seminars, with Monaghan following on from Dublin and Cork. So what have been young people's priorities so far?

On a daily basis the Being Young & Irish Facebook page post submissions made by young people all over the country and they range from impassioned ideas on how to improve mental health awareness and facility, equality and preserving cultural identity, but on both seminar days so far some large themes came to the fore.

One of the striking areas where ideas and interest was high was in education, where there was a near unanimous wish for wholesale reform of the educational system. Specifically, young people wish to see a change to the stultifying status quo, especially at secondary school level, with a more holistic approach that would integrate life skills, creativity, debates and innovation, as well as taking a fundamental look at how subjects are taught, what is covered on the curriculum and a focus on political education. It's clear based on the reactions of the young people that they see changing the fundamentals of education, by altering they very way we interact with the education system, it is from there that further new ideas and innovations can come in other facets of life.

The second, very encouraging element was the willingness of the young people not just to passively postulate on the issues of the day, but to take active ownership of them. In Dublin, the young people succinctly proposed a "Get Up Off Your Arse Day" and the Cork meeting also emphasised a push towards volunteering and putting plans into actions by strengthening the bonds in their community.

Related to that was the need for young people to challenge and refute stereotypes that dog them, especially in the media, and the best way to do is to make clear how willing they are to contribute, both locally and nationally. To that end there were calls for a national youth panel, to consult on affairs of state that substantially affected young people, and the more general call for accountability between the state's citizens and its' government was a very popular one.

Even though the Being Young and Irish consultation process is only half way through, there's still time to add something to the discussion. If you think have something valuable to contribute to the conversation about Ireland's future, share it with us at www.president.ie/makeasubmission. You never know where it might lead.

Looking to 2016 - future candidates for Presidents of the United States

Who will be sitting in this seat in the Oval Office in 2016

Predicting the future is hard. And yet, political anoraks absolutely love it. So while I’m not even 100% sure what I’m doing next Friday, I can’t help but think about how the political terrain will look four years from now.

It might seem strange to be ruminating on that not long after the seats in the convention halls in Tampa and Charlotte flipped back into the upright position, but really there’s no better time. Nobody would have given Barack Obama a snowball’s chance in Tucson of winning in 2008 had he not brought the house down in 2004. Bill Clinton nearly derailed his chances of election in 1992 after a off-par performance in 1988. Conventions matter, not just as a way to big up the candidate, but for the people doing the bigging up, it acts as an audition.

And so in 2016, after which will almost certainly be eight years of a Democratic White House, who will be the dramatis personae? On the Republican side, a drastic change will have to be made. To stand any chance in 2016 they’ll need to steer their rudderless boat back towards Eisenhower, and their current leadership is utterly devoid of anyone capable enough (or magnanimous enough)to take up that challenge, let alone the White House.  John Huntsman might be the man to do it, but he’s persona non grata in the party at the minute, and that’s kinda the problem.

So while it’s likely some fresh newcomer will take up the reins and start rebuilding the GOP for 2016, among the people we know Marco Rubio and Chris Christie look to be the frontrunners so far, with possibly Bob McDonnell of Virginia in the mix too.  Based on the convention speech test Rubio is the best bet of those three, and in spite of his Tea Party credentials seems the most able to reconnect with the public and widening the base of a Republican party too reliant on angry white guys. Not my words, Senator Lindsay Graham’s.

Beyond those early frontrunners interesting choices outside the angry white guy motif would be Ohio moderate Rob Portman, New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez or even Jeb Bush, who converted to Catholicism and carried a substantial Latino vote when he was Governor of Florida. Or failing that his son, George P Bush, might be worth an outside shot later down the line.

On the Democratic side, the depth chart looks a lot more promising, but that has its own dangers. Joe Biden will be in his seventies by the next election, but after a resonant and genuine speech at the DNC this year all thing staying the same you would disregard him at your peril. Similarly, Hillary Clinton’s profile is as strong as it ever was, and her husband’s star turn on Wednesday night will have done her no harm at all. 2008 may have been her last and best chance at sitting in the Oval Office, but if she thinks she has half a chance, she’ll definitely be in the mix.

Elsewhere Elizabeth Warren’s star continues to rise and if she becomes a Senator at the end of this year she’ll no doubt be on the inside track for 2016 if she wants it. From the ever-plentiful pool of capable Governors, New York’s Andrew Cuomo  is a strong bet and Deval Patrick of Massachusetts could make a decent challenge if his convention speech is anything to go by.  But my personal tip to watch is Maryland’s Martin O’Malley: two term Governor, former Mayor of Baltimore, former Dropkick Murphys-style bandleader and, so the story goes, slight inspiration for Mayor Carcetti in The Wire. He’s bright, he’s ambitious, and he’s definitely one to watch.

But 2016 is miles away, and plenty of time for someone else to surge through. Or, more likely, for one of the aforementioned front runners to slip up.

The trampling of women's rights - Pussy Riots imprisonment, Todd Akin's "legitimate rape" comments, and abortion legislation in Ireland

Internationally women's rights are
taking a trouncing

In the political sphere in the last few weeks, women and women’s rights have been trampled over to such an extent it leaves me mourning the death of political enlightenment and decency (if, that is, it was ever alive at all).

In Russia members of Pussy Riot were jailed by a humorless, senseless but sadly far from powerless state patriarchy, causing uproar around the world. And in the States, the anti-abortion lobby have become terrifyingly and vocally absolutist.

Granted, America’s pro-life lobby have always been intense (some of them are so pro-life if they find a doctor who runs an abortion clinic, they’ll kill him) but at the water’s edge of the argument were always the delicate matters of life of the mother, rape and incest. Of late, that Rubicon has been crossed in dramatic, reckless fashion.

At this stage, there’s probably not a person in the world who hasn’t heard Senate candidate for Missouri Todd Akin’s thoughts on “legitimate rape”. It takes a special kind of warped to have such single-minded fidelity to a position that you’ll be willing to believe that a woman has the biological capability to shout “Halt, friend or foe” at a violent sexual attacker’s sperm. Had he just been one rogue lunatic, it would have been one thing. But then the floodgates opened.

Once Akin had a go, Republican quotes on their views about rape and abortion sort of went viral. Mike Huckabee was quoted as saying that some terrific people were born out of rape. A minor Missouri politician suggested rape victims who fell pregnant should consider their baby a gift. Even old quotes were brought to the forefront, with former candidate for Texas governor Clayton Williams’ suggestion that, if a rape was inevitable, they should “relax and enjoy it”.  And then, to add insult to injury, Vice President Paul Ryan referred to rape as a method of contraception, and the Republicans choose to codify such extreme views in their party platform.  Whatever your thoughts on the morality of abortion, when malevolence and casual lunacy such as this gets deposed into mainstream public discourse, something is badly, badly wrong.

Abortion is also finding its way back on to the discussion table in Ireland. I’ve talked a while ago about the likes of Youth Defence and their preoccupation with the unborn, and unhinged as they are at least they have conviction, unlike our craven government who have flailed around by putting an expert group together to report on how to deal with an issue that should have been legislated for 20 years ago. And then, you have Cardinal Sean Brady wading in, urging a(nother) referendum to be run on the matter, a campaign he wants to be heavily involved in. Which is a bit bloody rich, to put it mildly.

Of late, I’ve been using this column to highlight some of the things Ireland should prioritize in the future in the lead up to President Higgins’ Being Young & Irish workshops and seminar. And while I’ve been focusing on specific matters like education and employment and the diaspora, no matter what the issue at hand it should be underpinned by a rational civic and civil means of conversation where people can respectfully discuss issues honestly, without cynicism or rigidity. We need it as soon as we can because hysteria is getting us nowhere.

Being Young And Irish - taking care of the Irish Diaspora around the world

Irish students protest forced immigration at the Famine memorial Dublin

As I write this, I’m just in the door from the Donegal Youth Council’s end of term celebration evening. For the past two years three dozen young people aged between 13 and 18 have given up large swathes of their time to use their electoral mandate to serve others in a dazzling array of ways, from improving local facilities to shaping national policy. But even without their substantive list of legislative achievements, the Donegal Youth Council and the extraordinary young people who make it what it is embody a civic pride and duty and willingness to discuss and take on issues without fear or rancor. These are the qualities which will be the building blocks of the new Ireland. And yet, Ireland is currently squandering this talent as it loses fantastic young people like this all the time to emigration.  

A cursory look at my list of Facebook friends alone makes for stark viewing. Scores of people I know from home or college or generally being around have in the last few years changed their location header to London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Brussels, Chicago, New York, Buenos Aires, Dubai, Tokyo, Bangkok, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland. It’s bad enough that they had to go to find work abroad in the first place, but worse still is the attitude our national governments have taken to an ever-burgeoning diaspora, which has ranged from passive indifference to apparent relief of using the emigration “release valve”.

It’s not that working on another continent is an inherently tragic thing; it is of course enriching in a whole host of ways, but as with most things compulsion rather takes the edge off. Fundamentally the reason so many young people are leaving our shores is because they don’t feel their talent is appreciated or facilitated, and that gulf only widens with time and geography. If Ireland is ever to get back on its feet, it needs to get serious about integrating the diaspora and keeping them involved in the affairs of state.

Plenty of other nations do it. In the US absentee ballots from international locations are a normal part of the electoral process. Italy and France for example have representatives of their ex-pats in parliament too. And yet, despite perhaps the single most extensive ethnic connection network in the world, Ireland doesn’t extend the same rights, responsibilities or entitlements. That needs to change.

Granted, there is some opposition to such measures within Ireland itself, with suggestions that by leaving the country you just forfeit your right to vote here. But this is a globalized world, and the decisions made here matter a great deal everywhere else. Our diaspora have an incredible amount to offer us and we could do with utilizing and being thankful for the skill and wisdom. Émigrés know this all too well.

The word “shareholder” has quite negative connotations at the minute, but in a national sense it’s vital for Ireland’s future that we give our citizens living abroad a sense of belonging and value they probably didn’t feel while here, and which factored in their decision to leave in the first place. If Ireland can’t provide reasons for young people not to go, it should at least give them some not to stay away.

I sat yesterday evening beaming with pride at the Donegal’s Youth Council’s Celebration Evening. Not just for their achievements, but for the love and self-worth and common purpose they provided each other with by serving the public and bettering their community. As a nation, we need to do so much more of that. No matter where our citizens go, it’s vital their promise isn’t squandered or their civic pride quashed. The Proclamation urges us to cherish all the children of the nation equally, it shouldn’t have a distance limiter.