Annual Report 2010 Publisher full - Offaly County Council

Comhairle Na nÓg
The purpose of Comhairle is to link young people to adult decision
making bodies and ensure that young people can influence policy. In
2010 Offaly Comhairle planned for it’s first Youth Conference “Say
It Out Loud”. The Conference brought together almost 200 young
people and addressed issues that included eating disorders,
sexuality, suicide, teenage pregnancy, addictions & family issues.
The Comhairle Group realised that there are many issues facing
young people and there is a need to talk about these issues.
representative of young people aged 13-17 from a wide
geographical area within the County. Offaly Comhairle engages with
the HSE, Gardai and Councillors on their issues and is supported by
the collaborative working of Youth workers in Offaly.
Offaly Sports Partnership
In early 2011 the CDB adopted the Offaly Sports
Partnership Strategic Plan for 2011-2015. A brief flavour of the
programmes undertaken by the Sports Partnership in 2010 is
outlined as follows,
Sports Hall Athletics
Thirty schools participated in the Sports Hall Athletics Programme
and approximately 2,700 pupils benefited. 23 Schools participated in
the Inter-Schools Competition in early 2011.
The Conference, organised by the Offaly Comahirle Committee is the
largest event Comhairle has organised to date and received National
Coverage on RTE. The Comhairle group identified two main issues
that they wanted to address in 2011. These issues were teen suicide
and mental health; focusing on bullying and pressures on young
people.
The Comhairle executive meets on a monthly basis and works on
projects that have been identified by young people. The group is
Internacional Maratón Simultanéo.
Following an invitation from the AAA in the UK, as a result of their
work delivering sportshall athletics and other athletics programmes,
Offaly Sports Partnership was invited to enter a team in the
Internacional Maratón Simultanéo.
25 primary schools participated in the project from which 80 were
chosen to represent Offaly (and Ireland) in an international event
staged in a number of locations in Canada, UK and Spain all being
linked up through web links. Very positive feedback has been
received from children, parents, school teachers and schools on this
project it is planned to maintain the international partnership for
this. The event was also covered on RTE children's television.
Sports Inclusion Disability Officer
The Sports Inclusion Disability Officer continues her work in bringing
sport and physical activity programmes to people with physical,
sensory and intellectual disabilities. Three members of Midlands
Powerchair Soccer Club, established by the Sports Inclusion
Development Officers in Offaly and Westmeath have been picked for
the National Squad. The Development Officer continues to deliver
disability awareness training in 2nd and 3rd level colleges and
institutes.
Page 26 | Offaly County Council Annual Report 2010