Ms Doireann Walsh:

My name is Doireann Walsh and I am 15 years old. I am a third-year student at St. Brogan’s College in Bandon, County Cork. I am involved with Youth Work Ireland through the youth participation panel. As someone who grew up in west Cork, the history of our island has been an important part of my life ever since I was in primary school. The question of our shared island’s future is one I have thought about a lot. Today, I would like to acknowledge some of the challenges and opportunities we face as a shared island. The challenges I will discuss relate to education as well as language and culture. These are two significant issues for me as a young person in Ireland today.

Both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have strong cultures, including the language, religion and traditions of both countries. When we think about our shared island, it is easy to think about the differences between the cultures of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. I think everyone, no matter their culture or background, should be given the opportunity to express their culture and the things they love about it. Our culture is also what can unite us, as even the flag of the Republic shows, with the green representing Catholics, the orange representing Protestants and the white representing peace between the two groups.

Language is another challenge. While Irish is spoken in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the language is not used as much in the North. As of the 2011 census, 64,847 people there spoke, read, wrote and understood Irish. About 4,000 people used the language as their home language. There are Irish-medium schools and Irish can be taken as a GCSE subject, but I would like to see Irish being encouraged in schools. I understand, however, that there are people in Northern Ireland who come from a more Unionist background, who may be apprehensive about learning Irish. This is completely understandable, but my vision is that everyone be given an equal opportunity to learn Irish if they so wish. It would not be fair to force the language on those who do not want to learn it. I also do not want people to forget about their identity, be that Catholic or Protestant, nationalist or unionist. All I would like to see is people appreciating the differences and similarities between their cultures and those of others.

This leads me to the issue of education. The education systems in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are similar in some ways but there are some differences. Students spend eight years in primary school and six years in secondary school in the Republic of Ireland and seven years in primary school and seven years in secondary school in the North. The state exams form another difference. Students in Northern Ireland sit GCSE and A-level exams, while students in the Republic take the junior cycle and leaving certificate exams. Students should be given a well-rounded education that meets their needs and sets them up for the rest of their lives. Both education systems should take the better parts of the other and implement them. This will set up the leaders of tomorrow with the best outlook on our shared island and the world as a whole.

Finally, where do young people come into all of this? Being involved in the youth participation panel, I have seen at first hand how important it is for young people to have a say on the topics that will affect their futures. Having your voice heard is an amazing feeling and I think all young people should be given that opportunity. Being with other people when we have been given the opportunity to share our voices, seeing somebody's eyes light up when they have had their voice acknowledged, watching plans unfold from one idea, watching adults learn what is like to be a young person today and that feeling of being listened to: these are the things I love about youth participation. Young people deserve to have a powerful voice on the issues that affect them. Therefore, I ask that there be continued engagement with young people on the important topic of the future of our shared island.