Young Ireland - News & Events

13 August 2025

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley TD, has announced the appointment of Ms. Koulla Yiasouma to chair the Young Ireland Advisory Council. The Advisory Council is a key part of the governance of Young Ireland, the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People.

Announcing the appointment, Minister Foley said:

“I am delighted to appoint Koulla Yiasouma to this important role. The actions set out for Government in Young Ireland pave the way towards improving the lives of children and young people; I know that Koulla’s guidance and experience will help to ensure an emphasis on children’s rights in the implementation of policies that affect them. I would also like to thank Mr. Ian Power for his work with the Advisory Council.”

Click here for more information and the full press release.

Information about children’s rights, Young Ireland, and the Young Ireland Advisory Council can be found here: www.gov.ie/YoungIreland.

02 July 2025

The Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley, has announced a €330,000 investment in new measures designed to strengthen prevention and early intervention services for children so every child and young person across Ireland experiencing disadvantage, adversity and trauma has access to timely support.

This funding represents a strategic investment in the futures of children and young people growing up with disadvantage that can impact outcomes in later life. Grants of up to €30,000 will be made available through the What Works initiative, funded by the Dormant Accounts Fund, to support community and voluntary sector organisations.

Minister Foley said:

“I am delighted to announce this suite of measures which reflect our commitment to early intervention and innovation in children's services. My department strives to continuously enhance the quality of prevention and early intervention services so every child and young person is given the best start in life.”

Click here for more information and the full press release.

13 June 2025

Funding of €500,000 has been announced by Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley for new recreational spaces for teenagers in recognition that more play and recreation amenities, such as social ‘hang out’ spaces and multi-use games areas (MUGAs), are required.

The Department secured Dormant Accounts funding this year to allow authorities to develop the teenage specific spaces in consultation with teenagers themselves.

Minister Foley said:

I am delighted to announce the successful applicants to the Making Spaces for and with Teenagers Pilot Project. This funding of €500,000 from the Dormant Accounts Fund will provide innovative and exciting recreational spaces for Irish teenagers. By providing safe, inclusive spaces for our young people to meet and spend time together, we are investing in the future of our communities and allowing young people to thrive, learn and grow.

Click here for more information and the full press release.

12 June 2025

The National LGBTIQ+ Inclusion Strategy II 2024-2028 (NLIS II) was published on 12 June 2025, along with its associated National LGBTIQ+ Inclusion Strategy II - Action Plan 2025-2026.

The NLIS II builds on Ireland’s LGBTI+ National Youth Strategy 2018-2020, the first of its kind worldwide, and the National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy 2019-2021.

The new whole of life-cycle Strategy has been developed following a robust consultation process with LGBTIQ+ people, those who engage with LGBTIQ+ issues through their own lived experience, organisations who represent the views of the LGBTIQ+ community and with Government Departments and State Agencies.

The NLIS II and its associated action plans will seek to directly confront the continuing challenges faced by LGBTIQ+ people today through actions across four key Pillars – Safety, Health and Wellbeing, Participation and Inclusion, and Equality and Non-Discrimination.

Click here for more information and the full press release.

11 June 2025

A new guide, ‘Principles for Engaging in the Arts: A Guide for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare Settings’, has been launched by Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley, and Minister for Arts, Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan.

The Principles for Engaging with the Arts are designed to inspire and support meaningful arts experiences for children in early learning and care and school-age childcare settings across Ireland. The principles are also intended to support artists and arts organisations in their work with babies, toddlers, young children and children attending school-age childcare.

Minister Foley said:

“The arts are essential to how children make sense of the world, build relationships, and express themselves. These Principles celebrate the power of the arts to enrich everyday experiences in early learning and care and school-age childcare settings, and they offer a shared language and framework for educators and artists.

Click here for more information and the full press release.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is holding a Public Consultation seeking the views of key stakeholders about whether a new regulation should be considered under the Protection of Young Persons Act 1996 and whether the existing Code of Practice concerning the Employment of Young Persons in Licensed Premises should be reviewed.

If you would like to give your thoughts on this, respondents can make submissions via the dedicated online form. The closing date for submissions is close of business, Thursday, 8 May 2025.

For more information, please click here.

09 April 2025

The latest edition of the Children and Young People’s (CYP) Indicator Set, updated to the end of 2024 has been published by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. The CYP Indicator Set is a comprehensive collection of indicators relating to the lives of children and young people aged 0–24 years in Ireland. It aims to track progress across each of the National Outcomes outlined in Young Ireland, the national policy framework for children and young people 2023–2028. These outcomes are for children and young people to be/have:

1. Active and Healthy

2. Achieving Full Potential in Learning and Development

3. Safe and Protected from Harm

4. Economic Security and Opportunity

5. Connected, Respected and Contributing to their World

This report is updated annually by the Data and Analytics Unit and can be found herealong with some key findings from the report.

12 March 2025

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley has today announced the opening of applications for a new fund to upskill early years staff.

The Nurturing Skills Learner Fund will cover 90 per cent of the course fees for early years staff who undertake a degree course. They can study the course over a four-year period while continuing their regular daily work within the early learning and care sector.

The Nurturing Skills Learner Fund 2025 is co-funded by the European Union through the EIST programme 2021 to 2027. It was introduced on a pilot basis last year, with 350 applicants successfully receiving funding for the academic year 2024/2025. There are 350 funded places available for applicants this year.

Further information can be found here.

26 February 2025

The Children’s Rights Alliance (CRA) formally announced the publication of its annual Report Card 2025 yesterday.

Report Card 2025 is the fifth and final analysis of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party’s joint Programme for Government: Our Shared Future which reviews how this previous government performed for children in its final term in office in 2024. Closely analysing 15 promises made to children and young people, the Report has rated the Government on its efforts in fulfilling those commitments. An independent panel of experts provided grades of the Government’s performance.

Tanya Ward, CEO of the Children’s Rights Alliance, stated the Report Card’s “recommendations provide the incoming Government with a clear roadmap to deliver positive change for children and young people as they embark on implementing the new Programme for Government: Securing Ireland’s Future”.

Click here for further information from the launch. The full Report Card is also available to view on the CRA’s website here .

17 February 2025

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) officially launches its Children and Young Person’s Hubinformation resource today.

This new and innovative platform has been developed by the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) division at the CSO to serve as a centralized resource for key information exploring the lives of children and young people using the latest data from the CSO and other public service bodies. This is part of a series of hubs the CSO is developing to improve access to timely and important statistics across key policy areas.

The resource provides a wide range of information, with a focus on eight main themes: Population; Education; General Health; Mental Health; Activities; Relationships; Society, and Deprivation & Poverty.

The Hub assists users in easily locating up-to-date information on subjects such as population projections; household compositions; health; education; activities; relationships; deprivation, and well-being indicators.

Click here for more details from the project launch and to review key highlights from the Hub’s findings.

12 February 2025

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has published two reports by the Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Office in his department. The Programme Office represents a ‘Spotlight’ action in Young Ireland, the national policy framework for children and young people.

The First Progress Report of the Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Officedetails the progress made by Government since the establishment of the Programme Office in the Department of the Taoiseach in 2023. It provides a cross-government update on the national response to child poverty and draws out key learnings and future priorities.

Breaking the Cycle: New Measures in Budget 2025 to Address Child Poverty and Promote Well-beingis the second report. It describes the steps that will be taken through Budget 2025 to realise Government’s goal of reducing child poverty. This is the second cross-government report analysing increases in expenditure on child poverty measures in the Budget.

Click hereto find out more and to read the reports.

7 February 2025

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) hosted a workshop on Child Rights and Youth Impact Assessments (CRYIAs) for policy makers across government on the 7th of February.

Policy makers from several different government departments worked through the draft CRYIA assessment tool in groups, using hypothetical policy scenarios, and provided valuable feedback to DCEDIY on the tool.

A CRIA is a tool to examine policy or draft legislation through a child rights lens. It aims to help key decision-makers identify, research, analyse, and record the predicted impact of a proposed decision on children’s rights.

Child rights impact assessments are one of the general measures of implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and are an essential tool in implementing the Convention. The development and implementation of a CRIA in government and government agencies is also a firm commitment in [link broken]

29 January 2025

On 20 November - World Children’s Day - Eurochild released its flagship report on children in need titled Children's Realities in Europe: Progress & Gaps, which compiles information from 57 Eurochild members in 31 countries across Europe.

The sub-report published today presents insights on the implementation of the European Child Guarantee provided by Eurochild members across all EU countries, including direct quotes from members regarding its evaluation. After laying out the information coming from the ground on the implementation of the Child Guarantee, Eurochild offers its recommendations to both EU member states and the European Union.

The report can be accessed hereon the Eurochild website.

28 January 2025

This call for proposals aims at supporting, advancing and implementing comprehensive policies to protect and promote the rights of the child, including the right to participate. It responds to children’s current needs and challenges in the EU, through three priorities:

• Children’s rights in the digital age;

• Children’s engagement and participation;

• Embedding a rights of the child perspective in actions at national and local level.

This call focuses on the implementation of the actions and recommendations at EU, national and local levels of the EU Strategy on the rights of the child. It aims at responding to children’s current needs and challenges in the EU.

Click here for more information!