NEWS

Despite a week of unpredictable weather - sun, rain, wind - we had a memorable time last week at Western House Hotel in Ayr for the Young Ireland Programme.

Our congratulations go to Caoimhe Currie from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media on winning the title Ireland Young Thinker of the Year 2024. She delivered 'an illuminating and thoughtful paper on climate change with great style'. The runner-up award went to Emma Deignan from the Department of Rural and Community Development. She presented a robust paper on whether statues of people with questionable histories should be removed. Two highly commended awards were given to Áine Moreland from Dublin City Council and Rebecca Smith from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for their papers on the night-time economy and immigration, respectively. Click here for photos.

After the summer break, we are off to Lancaster for the Autumn Young England and Wales Programme. For the brochure and booking form, click here. And the dates have just been announced for the Autumn Young Scotland Programme: 26 to 29 November. For full details and booking, click here.

*****

For information about the upcoming International Young Scotland Programme, being held at Western House Hotel, Ayr, from 29 October to 1 November, please email apply@youngprogramme.org