Young Social Innovators were delighted to be back on the road this March to meet the 4,000 students who were taking part in this year's Speak Out Tour. It was our first in-person event since 2019, so you can only imagine how excited we were to hear and see each project - and wow, did you deliver!! 

We hit the road on March 6th in our new snazzy branded van thanks to Carol in Toyota (once we figured out to drive it) and began our road trip, starting in Dublin city’s Round Room at the Mansion House. The Speak Outs that day were incredible and at each location they continued to blow us out of the water. The YSI team saw 250 projects from all over Ireland and each one tackled important social issues. At each Speak Out we saw dancing, singing,musicians, rapping, spoken word and a lot of exceptionally creative props - (paper maché slot machines, students dressed as vapes, cardboard buses just to name a few) - your creativity knows no bounds!

With 12 events throughout the tour in Dublin city, Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick, Drogheda, South Dublin and Sligo it was eye opening to hear about the social issues that are affecting you and your ideas for change.  

From lack of access to public transport, domestic abuse, animal rights, the lack of opportunities to learn Irish Sign Language, vaping and sport equality we heard a variety of challenges that young people are facing every day. Each and every one of these projects are important and we are so glad to be able to give you a platform to speak out on these issues. It’s no easy feat to get up in front of your peers and the Speak Out panel and advocate for your cause - but you all did it fearlessly and with gusto! 

Dayl Cronin (formerly of the band Hometown, but he much prefers working with YSI) was the most fun and energetic MC/hype man we could have asked for - always managing to get the teams even more excited than they already were. We saw some truly brilliant dancing at each Speak Out (and some not so good, but we’ll say nothing). Dayl even managed to teach us all a new dance routine that I’m sure we’ll all be bringing to the dancefloor! 

We really hope that everyone who took part in the Speak Outs had fun, because we certainly did and we were so impressed with each and every project - the passion, determination and solutions that were spoken about were inspiring. We know the future is in safe hands and we can’t wait to see what you do next - keep advocating and keep speaking out!! 

Watch our Speak Out 2023 highlight video here!