Another happy week in Ayr!

Despite a week of unpredictable weather - sun, rain, thunder, 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. She delivered an illuminating and thoughtful paper on climate change with great style. As long as it remains possible to set aside our worries and return to our lives, this crisis will persist. It’s not a problem of willpower or selfishness - it’s just human nature, she told the room.

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 or links to the past 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. 

The winning group in the Group Challenge were Group A: Sunita Bisht, Pobal; Jordan Briggs, National Council for Curriculum and Assessment; Caoimhe Currie, Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media; Lugh Ó Donnaile, Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth; and Keyla Zamora, Department of Justice. They explored the concept of 'love' with a great team dynamic and were bold in their use of roleplay.

A special award for Best 90-Second Challenge went to Philip McGuinness of the Department of the Taoiseach, who asked: How do we defend the arts? A relaxed and thoughtful presenter, he delivered an argument paper in miniature.