Donegal students attend showcase for participation in cross-border project

Students from Donegal schools took part in a cross-border project with students from Magherafelt, Co Derry and Craigavon, Co Armagh.

The students from Loreto Community School, Milford, and The Royal and Prior Comprehensive School, Raphoe, have been involved in a project funded through the International Fund for Ireland’s (IFI) Communities in Partnership programme, which aims to build stronger border connections to benefit communities.

The project was delivered by Politics in Action and has helped to build the knowledge of students, enhance their civic and political skills, and their understanding of the issues impacting on their communities, the wider border region and across the UK and Ireland. 

All participants, with their teachers and guests attended a final showcase event at Strule Arts Centre in Omagh to present the learnings, impact and some of the achievements over the last year.

Front Row: Hannah McGinley, Casey Reid, Clodagh Gibbons, Aoife Cameron and Bella Mullen (DP). Back Row: Joe MacBride, Aoibheann Gibbons, Niall Toland, Nadia Nee (teacher) and Hugo Boyce. From Loreto Community School, Milford.

For the past three years, Politics in Action have co-ordinated a cross-community, cross-border initiative to empower young people to use their voice and initiate change in their communities.

This project has been supported by the International Fund for Ireland through its ‘Communities in Partnership Programme’ (CiPP). The event highlighted the huge impact the young people have made in their respective communities through the action projects they have developed over the course of the programme.

The young people have explored themes of segregation and sectarianism, violence against women and girls, how we learn the Irish language, political education and mental health, and drug and alcohol misuse. These themes remain pivotal for young people on both sides of the border, and their action project reflected a shared approach to tackling these problems.

The action projects completed by the young people developed connections between the schools and their local community groups, strengthening community partnerships and encouraging collaboration for the future.

The project is coming to an end after three years; however, the relationships built among the local communities will continue to thrive, promoting young people’s ideas to collaborate, learn and create and vision of what a shared future can look like.

Dr Thérèse Cullen, Project Manager at Politics in Action said: “There has been such important learning in this project for everyone involved. We now better understand the impact of Brexit and of the border on the young people who live next to it. There is an enormous amount to be gained by connecting students, teachers, schools and communities across the border.”

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IFI Board Member Bill Pauley added: “Over the last three years, this Programme has encouraged and built meaningful cross-border partnerships. Young people’s voices are critical for the future of this island, so it is important that we continue to support this work. This investment will ensure they can contribute positively to building a shared society.

“When asked about their experience of the project, participants responded: ‘Making new friends, it was like an episode of Derry Girls’.

“I have gained a lot of crucial skills such as teamwork, communication, public speaking and I have learned about mental health. Divisions can be overcome with communication.”

A teacher involved added: “PiA gives a licence to have conversations that are not orchestrated - students have the option to discuss what they want to discuss - where the curriculum is more restrictive… It’s so hard to find time in the classroom- this [PiA] gives you the space to create those conversations.”