Comhairle na nÓg are child and youth councils and there is one in every Local Authority throughout the country.
What is Comhairle na nÓg?
Under Goal 1 of the National Children’s Strategy (2000) ‘Children will have a voice in matters which affect them and their views will be given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity’.
One of the objectives of the Limerick Comhairle is to ensure that the children and young people are given the opportunity to be involved in the development of local services policies, engage and understand the process and to ‘have a voice’. In light of the fact that Comhairle na nÓg is for young people under the age of 18 and who therefore have no other voting mechanism to have their voice heard, Comhairle na nÓg is designed to enable young people to have a voice on the services, policies and issues that affect them in their local area. There are 30 Young People on the Limerick Comhairle, coming from both the city and the county.
Limerick City and County Council are responsible for the day to day running of Comhairle na nÓg and have a Service Level Agreement with Limerick Youth Service to manage the co-ordination in this regard. The Local Authority are the link to decision makers within the Local Authority and are involved in order to ensure the young people’s views are listened to and have influence. Limerick City and County Council also play a key role in creating awareness about Comhairle and the topics currently worked on in the local area.
What is the Comhairle AGM?
Every Comhairle na nÓg holds an Annual General Meeting in the Autumn/Winter, to which children and young people are invited from local schools and youth groups. 100 young people attend the Limerick AGM. At the Limerick AGM, the young people discuss the current topic the Comhairle are working on and pick the topics of most importance to them to work on in the following year. The day involves group work, discussions, networking and information sharing. There is also an opportunity for interested attendees to join the Limerick Comhairle na nÓg Committee for the following 2 year cycle. This committee is responsible for working on the topic(s) of the Comhairle for that year and being the consultative forum that works with decision-makers for example: Limerick City and County Council, LCETB, and the DCYA to name a few.
Limerick Comhairle na nÓg 2019 AGM
Limerick Comhairle na nÓg 2018 AGM
Limerick Comhairle na nÓg 2017 AGM
Limerick Comhairle na nÓg 2016 AGM
Useful Links
- National Comhairle na nÓg website
- Limerick Comhairle na nÓg Facebook
- Limerick Comhairle na nÓg Twitter
- Limerick Comhairle on Limerick Youth Service
Contact Information
Urban and Rural Community Development Department
Limerick City and County Council
Merchant's Quay
Limerick V94 EH90
Phone: +353 61 556000
Email: customerservices@limerick.ie