2012 – 2013
Transition year students at Desmond College travelled to Dail Eireann on Wednesday 24th of April to highlight their campaign to the government that free cardiac screening should be mandatory for all young people in Ireland.
The students briefed the Ministers, the Health Committee and also had a private meeting with An Taoiseach Enda Kenny on why they would like to see a situation in Ireland, where cardiac screening is the norm for all people under the age of 35.
They also spoke about all the hard work they have done to date to create awareness about this issue and strengthen their campaign. The Taoiseach was very positive and commended the students on all the work that they have done. The students are doing this project as part of Young Social Innovators where their ultimate goal is to have free screening available to all people in Ireland under the age of thirty-five.
This project was motivated by the loss of two young people both of whom were very special and important in the lives of this Transition Year class and Desmond College- Niamh Herlihy and Darra O’Donovan. This is a huge achievement for the school and one which the class are very proud of. It’s not often that you get a private meeting with the Taoiseach of the country!
This was further reinforced on Friday when the students of Desmond College received a personal letter from An Taoiseach congratulating them on their efforts to date and assuring them that he is behind this project 100 percent. It’s comforting to know that students in Desmond College understand the value of protecting young people from heart defects in this country and are willing to work hard to make it happen.
This TY project has successfully reached the Final of the Young Social Innovator Competition being held in Dublin on 8th May. A second TY project called Beat The Blues, aimed at raising awareness of mental health issues, has also got a place in the Final.
Transition Year students from Desmond College took part in the prestigious Young Social Innovator Competition which was held in City West Hotel Dublin on May 8th. This competition, founded by Sr. Stanislause Kennedy, encourages young students to take part in a social activity, to believe in it, act on it and change the world for good.
The TY class from Desmond College succeeded in getting two projects into the competition. The Beat the Blues project aimed at raising awareness of mental health issues and the Cardiac Screening Campaign focused on mandatory screening of young people for SADS.
As part of this campaign the TY Class, along with their teacher Ms Ciara Broderick, met the Health Committee and An Taoiseach Enda Kenny for a private meeting, to discuss the implementation of mandatory screening. It was with great joy and delighted that the TY class won a Young Social Innovator Award for their campaign.
However they all agreed that while they were delighted with their prestigious Award, their ultimate goal is to have free screening available to all people in Ireland under the age of thirty-five. This project was motivated by the loss of two young people, both of whom were very special and important in the lives of this Desmond College Transition Year Class and it is a project goal that all are determined to achieve.
Young Social Innovators believes young people are a powerful force in a community and one which can bring about change for good. This TY class certainly live up to this description of young people and are worthy winners of the Award.
