PRESS RELEASE

15th May 2015: Over 40 young people from schools participating in Young Social Innovators (YSI) 2015, today visited with President Michael D. Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin. President Higgins is a patron of Young Social Innovators, a large movement of young people who are bringing about positive change using social innvoation with some 25,000 young people involved in its programmes, training and events this year.

Among the schools in attendance were the current Young Social Innovators of the Year 2015, Largy College from Monaghan, who were named national winners at the YSI Annual Showcase in Citywest on May 6th. Largy College accepted the national title for their project LGBT- Lets’s Get By Together which tackled discrimination against the LGBT community, including homophobia and transphobia, and worked to create a safe environment for LGBT students and staff in their school.

Students also attended from Colaiste Muire, Ennis, Co. Clare, who were awarded the all-Ireland title of Young Social Innovators of the Year 2014 for their work to promote cyber safety among young people with their project entitled Beware of IT. Also in attendance were students from Tullamore College, from Co. Offaly who won the ‘Making Our World Greener’ Challenge at the Young Social Innovators of the Year Awards in 2014 and went on to win the Global Social Enterprise Business Award 2014 at the SAGE World Cup (Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship) in Moscow in 2014.

Speaking about the opportunity for the students to meet President Higgins, Rachel Collier, CEO, Young Social Innovators said, “Young people are a powerful force for good in Ireland and have much to offer to local communities and the wider society. Programes like Young Social Innovators show that young people do care about social justice and that they have strong opinions and ideas on how to address the issues we face today.  We are delighted to facilitate this visit to Áras an Uachtaráin and thank President Higgins for his ongoing support. It is a huge honour for all of the students here today to be given this opportunity.”

-ENDS-