Cavan Comhairle na nÓg’s topics for 2022 are: (1) Sexual Consent, (2) Anti-Bullying & (3) climate Change/Biodiversity.

Cavan Comhairle na nOg have successfully raised over €870 euro from a non-school uniform day to raise awareness and funds for victims of domestic violence. The proceeds will be donated to Women’s Aid and Men’s Aid.

News

The staff of the Childrens Ward, Cavan General Hospital were delighted to receive a presentation of €300 on Friday morning from Comhairle na nOg. The money was raised through the Pennies for PPE fundraiser that was carried out last year during lockdown. The fundraiser was raised on social media, the young people shared 4 positive things about lockdown and also donated €5 each, from left Thomas Smith, leader Comhairle; Jane Crudden, Co-Ordinator Comhairle; Marie Reyes,childrens ward; Aaron Reynolds, Comhairle member; Tommy Ryan, Chief Executive, Cavan County Council; Cathaoirleach Clifford Kelly, Una McAree, childrens ward; Emer Smith, facilitator Comhairle; Lorraine Tynan, childrens ward and Gemma Foley, childrens ward. Photo: Lorraine Teevan

The staff of the Children’s Ward and Lisdarn Unit for the Elderly at Cavan General Hospital were delighted to receive a presentation of €300 and €250 respectively from members of Cavan Comhairle na nOg.

The money was raised through the Pennies for PPE fundraiser, carried out in 2020 during lockdown. The fundraiser was shared on social media where the young people shared four positive things about lockdown and also donated €5 each

2021

Cavan Comhairle na nÓg’s were working on the following projects in 2021:

  • 52 reasons to visit Cavan: action – produce a brochure/video to promote 52 reasons to visit Cavan
  • Positive Mental Health: Action: produce a video highlighting mental health supports available locally
  • LGBTQ+ awareness, Facilities & Substance Abuse: Action – Hold a residential for all Comhairle members to include guest speakers to assist the members to develop a strategy to promote greater awareness of Mental health issues, promote a greater awareness of LGBTQ+. Address/identify lack of facilities for young people and promote the issues associated with substance abuse.

Comhairle members responding to their community during Covid crisis

Cavan Comhairle have been holding virtual meetings to start working on raising money for local nursing homes to buy PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). They have set up an online challenge asking people to:
SHARE 4 positive things that have happened/they have done since lockdown started.
TAG 4 people
DONATE €5 to their GoFundMe page – link here
Use the hashtag #Pennies4PPE

Past topics

Cavan Comhairle na nÓg  focused on two key topics in 2020:

1. 52 reasons to visit Cavan – promoting Cavan as a place to attract visitors.
2. The environment

Cavan Comhairle na nÓg’s key topic for 2018 was Promoting the Irish Language. Following on from the success of their award-winning Pop-Up Gaeltacht (read more below), they organised a series of events and activities to promote the Irish language and to encourage students to speak the language outside of the classroom.

They are also focusing on Life skills and Healthy eating in schools as secondary topics.

Cavan Comhairle’s primary topic for 2017 was Culture and History. In summer 2017 they hosted a POP-UP Gaeltacht event for Ulster/Connaught Comhairlí na nOg in Cavan to promote the history of the county through Irish. The format was an Irish-speaking event to promote the history of the county. In February 2018 they scooped an award for ‘Best Irish Language Initiative’ for their Pop-Up Gaeltacht. Presented by by IPB Insurance and LAMA (Local Authority Members Association), the LAMA All-Ireland Community and Council Awards celebrate collaborations between councils and communities, bringing national recognition to local projects and initiatives. The Awards 2018 took place in Croke Park on Saturday February 3rd. Taking place in June 2017 at Castle Saunderson International Scouting Centre, the Pop-Up Gaeltacht saw scores of young people converge on West Cavan for two days of ceol, caint, agus craic.

Cavan Comhairle were involved in a number of interesting projects in 2016. Throughout the year we reached out to young people through the medium of video: we created a series of cooking tutorials of popular Irish meals aimed at young people. The idea behind the videos is that knowing how to cook can help us achieve independence and is aimed specifically at young students to prepare for life in college.

We were involved in a 1916 commemorative event and created a video-piece which was informative of the lives of young people from one hundred years ago in Ireland.

We held a residential to address topics on the area of Health & Respect, and will host Leadership Training to equip our young Comhairle members with the skills they need to be leaders.

In 2015, Cavan Comhairle na nÓg focused their attention on the setting up of youth cafés in Cavan. They were involved in every aspect of their set-up, maintenance, marketing and promotion. They also worked on the topic of Positive Mental Health by organising events and residentials to promote the topic among the young people of Cavan.

In 2014 Cavan Comhairle na nÓg worked on the topic of Positive Mental Health. We aimed to increase awareness of, and to promote positive mental health in our community, and have examined the most common issues affecting people of our age, such as bullying, eating disorders and depression.

In 2013 we devised and coordinated 52 events and initiatives to promote youth participation across a wide range of music, art and Irish language initiatives.