Young people should have a say, Aoife tells An Taoiseach

Fifteen-year-old Aoife Murphy from Delvin was todfay (Monday) bringing the voice of young people around Ireland to the Taoiseach’s office after winning UNICEF’s Taoiseach #KidsTakeOver competition. 

Youth advocate Aoife is campaigning for Ireland to lower the voting age to 16, and spent the day with An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar highlighting why young people deserve to have a say in decisions that affect their future.

Aoife’s takeover of the Taoiseach’s office came the day before World Children’s Day, which is today, Tuesday November 20. 

World Children’s Day is a day ‘for children, by children’, when children from around the world will be taking over, as part of UNICEF’s global #KidsTakeOver initiative, key roles in media, politics, business, sport and entertainment to express their concerns about what global leaders should be focusing on.

A student at Eureka Secondary School in Kells, Aoife believes that young voices are being lost on important long-term issues that will drastically affect their futures – with adults making choices and young people having to live with the consequences.

Aoife was chosen by UNICEF to represent the views of the children of Ireland after she entered a competition to describe the one change she would like to see in her community, nation, or world.

Aoife spoke passionately about why she had previously started a local campaign to lower the voting age to 16 and why it’s so important to listen to the voices of young people on issues that will have consequences for their future. 

She had been running the campaign in her school and community to give young people a voice in their future and to advocate for change in the voting age. “Young people are facing great challenges like climate change, inequality and unemployment. We want to play our part in deciding who is making the decisions, that will have a far greater impact on our generation than theirs. It is our future – we deserve our say!” she said.

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: “World Children’s Day is a great opportunity to celebrate children, and also to give them a voice and hear their views and concerns about some of the biggest challenges facing us today. 

“I was delighted to meet Aoife and hear her ideas about lowering the voting age to 16 and what we can do to get more young people involved in politics. 

“Aoife and her peers are the next generation of leaders and it’s important we listen to them and take their ideas seriously.

“Aoife is a bright, enthusiastic and passionate young woman and she put across her opinions in very clearly and articulately. 

“I have no doubt she has a bright future ahead. 

“The UNICEF’s Kids Takeover gives me the chance to open up my office to an inquisitive young person and give them a glimpse of a day in the life of the Taoiseach. 

“It’s also an opportunity for us as policy makers to consider what we can do to further improve the livelihoods of children here in Ireland and in some of the world’s poorest countries.”

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Aoife with Mr Varadkar today.

 

World Children’s Day

UNICEF Ireland executive director Peter Power said: “World Children’s Day is a celebration of children all over the world and of all the progress we have made on children’s rights, and an opportunity to raise awareness about the issues they face at home in Ireland and around the world. 

“Aoife’s wonderful determination and passion for giving young people a voice is a reminder that children and young people will be the most affected by the decisions, from climate change to housing, that our societies make today.”

World Children’s Day is commemorated each year on November 20 and marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

The global day raises awareness and vital funds for the millions of children who are unschooled, unprotected and uprooted. 

Alongside the #KidsTakeOvers and other activities this year, UNICEF is inviting the public to go online and sign its global petition asking for leaders to commit to fulfilling the rights of every child now and for future generations, and to Go Blue for every child by doing or wearing something blue on November 20.