Six young people will take to the stage at the Helix in Dublin on Tuesday, November 7 for Child Talks 2023, the annual World Children\u2019s Day<\/i> event hosted by the Ombudsman for Children\u2019s Office. Child Talks 2023 will be bigger than ever, with almost 1,000 schoolchildren from Kildare, Dublin, Wicklow, Cork, Westmeath, Mayo, Roscommon and Meath attending.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s\u00a0speakers range in age from 10-17 years and their chosen topics include mental health, being LGBTQ+ in Ireland, vaping, neurodiversity in schools and access to STEM subjects for girls. Presented by Mark the Science Guy and our past speaker Sophia\u00a0Mulvany, there will also be live entertainment from special guests, Matilda\u2019s Alisha Weir and singer Michael\u00a0Moloney\u00a0from the Late\u00a0Late\u00a0Toy Show.\u00a0There will\u00a0be a DJ set from Music Generation who we are working with again this year.\u00a0The event will\u00a0be live streamed at oco.ie\u00a0and\u00a0TikTok\u00a0creator India Sacha will be behind the scenes.<\/p>\n
Children from across Ireland applied to take part in Child Talks.\u00a0Over the past number of\u00a0months, the Ombudsman for Children\u2019s Office, with the support of Dublin Story Slam, have worked with the young people involved to help them tell their story.<\/p>\n
Speaking ahead of Child Talks 2023, the Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cChild Talks has been running for six years now and is going from strength to strength.\u00a0\u00a0We\u2019ve had so many brave and passionate young people tell their stories over the past few years\u00a0and this year is no different.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe young speakers will take to the stage in front of a live audience of\u00a0almost\u00a01,000 people, which is certainly no mean feat for anyone. The topics they\u2019ll be discussing are live issues for many young people across Ireland\u00a0today\u00a0and\u00a0our speakers\u00a0deserve a lot of credit for\u00a0the hard work they\u2019ve put in to their talks over the past few months.<\/p>\n
\u201cHearing from children on the issues that matter to them is an integral part of\u00a0the work of our Office\u00a0and we are delighted to provide this platform to young people again this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n
Child Talks speakers<\/b><\/p>\n
Charlotte Burke (10) from Meath will talk about the challenges faced by her\u00a0neurodivergent\u00a0twin sister and how we all could benefit by learning a bit more about autism and neurodiversity.<\/p>\n
Eoin Murphy\u00a0(16) from Mayo will talk about the importance of self-love and looking after your mental health.<\/p>\n
Bee Fennell (13) from Wicklow will talk about the need for education on youth transgender issues<\/p>\n
Ruth Cunningham (16) from Roscommon will talk about girls\u2019 participation in STEM subjects at school<\/p>\n
Seamus\u00a0Kenny\u00a0(17) from Kildare will talk about how he feels schools could do more to help students manage their mental health.<\/p>\n
L\u00facia\u00a0Keane\u00a0(17) from Meath will talk about vaping and how she wants young people to be aware of the potential dangers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"