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Projects
Shadow Councillors base their projects on the views of the voters and results from the comment cards. Here is a taste of the projects the 2004-2006 Shadow Councillors and Delegates have been working on.
'Pump it Up' Concert
Fermanagh Shadow Youth Council hosted an interschool charity concert on Friday 28 October entitled ‘Pump it UP’. The hall in Mount Lourdes Grammar School was at fully capacity with the youth of Fermanagh as they awaited the acts to come on stage. The concert was organised by the youth council in response to young people who wanted more entertainment, more cross-community opportunities, more interschool events and somewhere for young talent to perform.
Talented young people is certainly what we got! The first half of the concert was a wealth of music and dance with singing by Madisson (Jemma McCleery and Aine Molloy), Lisa Gannon, Rosin Burns and Lauren Murphy and dance acts by WKD (Natasha, Leona and Amanda Little), Take Two (Anita Swift and Carla Melarky) and Stacy Morrow and Natasha Lee. Next it was then the turn of the bands, displaying outstanding talent, singing and playing various musical instruments. The bands playing were: The Boners (Sean Swift and Ryan Finch), Loaded (Niall Carberry, Kieron Leonard, Karl Ledwith), Impact (Callum Johnston, Alan McClintock, Sean-Paul Maguire, Harry Ip), Jimmi (Thomas McLaughlin, Jason Collum, Adam Byers) and Nemesis (David Lindsay, Sarah Wieghell, Adrian Mulgrew, Dwayne Maguire and Gareth Ritchie).
Like the guitars, the atmosphere was electric and the audience were barely able to stay in their seats, dancing, jumping, singing along and waving their arms. The concert was entirely organised by the Shadow Councillors and Delegates and young people took control of every aspect from stewarding to hosting the event.
Despite the fun and laughter however, there was also a serious note. The proceeds from the concert are going to CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young). CRY has produced a postcard with the faces of eight young people from Northern Ireland, representing the fact that eight young people die every week in the U.K. from cardiac related illnesses. One of these faces is that of Richard Martin, a Portora student who died last November. Richard’s brother Raymond Martin was the first speaker between the first 2 acts giving a very moving and fitting tribute to his brother. He also told the audience of the work of CRY and how the proceeds from the concert might be used. During each of the performances the hall fell silent as the stories of eight other young people were told by either family members or by Shadow Councillors and Delegates reading statements sent by the families of the young people from the postcard. Despite the mood being quickly lifted by the next performance, the stories will never be forgotten.
Thanks go to all those involved in the concert for making it the outstanding success it was. Especially to the Erne Music Collective for the use of their equipment, a massive thanks go to John Moffatt for his time and expertise given so generously, also to Mount Lourdes Grammar School and its staff and to all those businesses that provided prizes for the raffle. All these people helped us raise approximately £1500 for CRY.
The group wanted to present CRY with the proceeds from the concert but also to celebrate the achievement and relive some of the atmosphere from the night. The entertainment project group decided to invite two of the bands back to play at an eventand to present CRY with a cheque for £1500. 'Pump it Up Reunion' took place in the Lakeland Forum on Thursday 9th February. The cheque was presented to David and Paul Maritn, brothers of Richard Martin, a Portora student who died from a cardiac related illness. John Lundy, the Northern Ireland representative for CRY and the McElhill family, whose sons are both represented on the CRY postcard were also present. It is hoped that this money will be used to help fund a screening programme for young people in Northern Ireland.
Entertainment
FSYC continue to campaign to get a bowling alley back in Co Fermanagh. Members asked District Councillors to help by contacting Castle Entertainment who own the site. After many attempts, Castle Entertainment finally sent a reply saying that our ideas had been noted but that at present, no plans have been made for the site. Support petitions are also being distributed by Shadow Councillors and Delegates so please sign your support for this idea.
Plans are now well under way for a new community Radio Station based in Enniskillen. Supported by Fermanagh Shadow Youth Council and the Youth of Fermanagh, the Station will be aimed at the young people in the County. It will bring together the type of music, entertainment and current issues relevant to the Fermanagh youth today.
The Station will also offer the unique opportunity for student volunteers to expeerience various aspects of the radio broadcast media. It will be run almost entirely by young people of secondary school age and aims to give them the opportunity to express themselves while learning new skills.
It will also be the first media training centre for young people in Northern Ireland.
Last week, Ofcom, the regulator of the UK communication industry, granted VIBE FM a licence.
The station will be broadcast on 105.3 FM and will be Fermanagh’s first community, not-for-profit, radio station
The Station will be a chart based, pop targeting teenagers and will be completely different to any local station operating at the moment.
The broadcast schedule will include such youth driven programmes as “School’s Out” from 4-6pm, “The Lunch Bunch Show” from 1-4pm and “Light’s Out” from 10-12pm.
A weekly chart show for local groups will also be aired and bands have been invited to send their demos to the station.
Bullying Project
In Fermanagh Shadow Youth Council’s comment card survey, 1464 post primary students voted bullying as their top priority issue. FSYC wanted to work on the issue of bullying in an innovative way which would grab the attention of young people.
The group decided to graffiti the wall under Inis Cethlenn Bridge (the underpass between the Quay Lane car parks) in Enniskillen with an anti-bullying message. This is an area that many young people hang out in and was already heavily graffitied, so the young people were keen for the graffiti to have a positive message.
FSYC spent several meetings working with Arlene Brownlee, graffiti artist to come up with the design and took advantage of the Halloween break to paint the wall. The wall promotes anti-bullying and the dramatic images portray bullying in a very realistic way. On one side we see people being bullied, physically and verbally, words like ‘why?’ ‘Help’ and ‘Alone’ are used. These words are used to help us appreciate how bullying makes the victim feel. Also from the scene we can tell that no matter what size, race or what you look like, you can be the victim of a bully. On the other side we see the victims all together as friends, showing the bullies they won’t win! It also tells us that if you have ‘confidence’, and make new ‘friends’ you can be ‘happy’, and get on with your life and not feel alone or depressed. We also see the bullies walking away in the background.
In the middle is the FSYC logo in big, bright, bubbly writing, which really stands out! The moto “Be Heard" is also used to let young people know that they can be heard, should be heard and should not be afraid to have their say. There is also a duplicate of the “stamp out bullying” badge designed in a previous FSYC campaign
The wall really does look great and is a credit to the group who worked for two and a half days putting it all together. Everyone who took part thoroughly enjoyed their time doing it and should be very proud and honoured to have been part of it! It you haven’t seen it yet make sure you go and have a look.
Let’s just hope that all their good work isn't ruined!
The bullying project group have been brainstorming to try and come up with innovative ways to deal with the issue of bullying.
The group are considering a drama project involving students from schools and colleges in Fermanagh. When considering this the group travelled to Armagh during the half term break to see a production called ‘Scream’ based on the issue of bullying. While the group enjoyed the production they felt that students could produce something similar at less cost.
The group have also distributed a questionnaire to school Principals asking about their Anti-bullying policies and how schools deal with the issue of bullying in terms of punishment, support for the victim and bully, motivation for bullying behaviour and peer mentoring schemes. The group plan to use the Principal responses to direct further work.
Health Issues
Fermanagh Shadow Youth Council hosted a conference tackling issues effecting young people last Wednesday in the Clinton Centre. Over sixty students from schools and colleges across Co Fermanagh attended the conference and participated in six workshops. Shadow Councillors and Delegates designed the conference and invited statutory and voluntary agencies to host the workshops.
There were 6 workshops based on the initials of ‘ISSUES’; Intoxicated was a workshop on drugs and alcohol and was delivered by John Ellis and Siobhan Allister from the Drugwiser project; Sexual Health issues were dealt with by Joyce Thompson, the Health Promotion Co-ordinator; Dermott Lynch, Suicide Awareness Officer from Sperrin Lakeland Trust delivered a workshop on Suicide; ‘U Stressed Out’ dealt with exam stress and was provided by Marie Dunne from Health Promotion, Gransha; Brian O’Neill, WHSSB Eating Disorder Development Officer took a workshop on Eating Disorders and a workshop on Sexual Orientation dealing with homophobia was delivered by Ruth Nooman from the Rainbow Project.
Following the workshops John Ellis from Drugwiser answered questions posed in his earlier workshops concerning the use of drugs and alcohol. This was followed by a performance of the ‘Lights of Unity’ dance group who tackle social issues through the medium of dance. The day was extremely well supported and received by everyone concerned and gave young people the opportunity to access information on some very relevant issues in their everyday lives. This conference was funded by the Victoria Homes Trust.
Cross Community
This group have made contact with young people from minority ethnic backgrounds through 'Women of the World' and want to organise an event to celebrate the cultural diversity within County Fermanagh.
Youth Employment
There has been a discussion on the e forum 'Youths United' on various aspect of youth employment, how some people think that it is easier for a girl to get a job than a boy, also the minimum wage and the differences between employment regulations in the North and South of Ireland.
Members of FSYC took part in a consultation about youth employment regulations in Northern Ireland.
Environment
The group have been working along with the Technical Services department in Fermanagh District Council on a number of issues. The group first highlighted the need for increased recycling in schools as they felt that some schools could do with improving this. A letter was composed between FSYC and FDC explaining the benefits of recycling more and was sent out to all primary and post primary school in Feramangh.
This group have also been in contact with the 'League Against Cruel Sports' group, raising their profile in Fermanagh and distributing information related to the group.
Drugs and Alcohol
Fsyc hosted a talk by Robert Mullan from the Base Project, Ely Centre on drugs and alcohol.
Inspiring Readers
On 19th October members of Fermanagh Shadow Youth Council joined forces with a group from Donegal Youth Council to take visitors around Donegal Castle telling them old stories about the building and its grounds and scaring the living day lights out of most!!
This was all part of the Inspiring Readers project in conjunction with the County Library Board in Donegal. The idea of the project was to inspire young people to read, rather than telling them to read and is based around the theme of traditional story telling. Participants had undertaken three nights of training with professional storyteller, Eddie Kerr to prepare them for their night of storytelling.
After their chilling experience at some of Donegal’s haunted sites they headed back into the castle, which was the bloodcurdling destination for the councillors to tell their own trembling ghost stories!
Be Heard Wristband
FSYC wristbands promoting youth voice are still available from Shadow Councillors, Delegates and the FSYC office only £1
Transport
They have met with Wilfie Crawford from the WELB to discuss WELB buses in terms of link buses, late buses and quality of buses. At this meeting Mr Crawford explained to the young people the constraints which were put on his department both through funding cuts within the Education Board and statutory restrictions. This meeting shed a lot of light on the subject of education transport in Fermanagh. Mr Crawford admitted that there are some buses which have to be improved and that his department are working on those.
Members continue to campaign for steps from the Irvinestown Road to access St Michael’s, St Josephs and the Collegiate schools. The group are also considering safety for cyclists, a bus shelter in Coleshill, late buses to Irvinestown and concessionary tickets for town service buses.
Some mebers of FSYC sit on the board of the Fermanagh Road Road Safety Committee taking part in the many activities which they organise. FSYC assisted in the running of the FRSC Christmas card competition which was a huge success with hundreds of entries. By sitting on this committee it also gives the Youth Councillors a voice in all road safety matters in Fermanagh.
Bus Shelters
Those of you who get their bus at Derrychara Link Road or Quay Lane will not have failed to notice the disruption caused by the work going on in that area. The bus shelter has had to be removed from Derrychara Link Road to allow work to go on but it will be replaced after the work is completed.
The bus shelter from Derrychara Link Road has been place on Quay Lane and the good news is that it will be staying here permanently. We realise that many of you would have liked the bus shelter on the upper part of Quay Lane but this is not possible due to the back entrance to the houses in that area and unavailable land. We suggest that if it is raining, wait for your bus in the shelter and move up to the upper part of Quay Lane when it arrives or ask your bus driver if it is possible to get collected closer to the bus shelter.
We are also getting a bus shelter on the Irvinestown Road out of Enniskillen (opposite the one at the Fort Lodge) and we hope that once this goes through planning it should be erected shortly. FSYC are also backing a campaign to get steps up the bank from the pavement to service pupils walking to the Collegiate, St Josephs or St Michaels. We have enlisted the help of Fermanagh District Councillors and hope to get Roads Service to move this work up in their list of priorities so watch this space.
Internet Café
Sh Cllr Kirsty Gillen had an internet café as her manifesto. She has been doing some work to assess if any cafés would be interested in setting up an internet café. Eastend Restaurant in the Clinton Centre has opened an internet section and are very keen to get more young people in to use it. They have consulted with members of FSYC and the Eastend restaraunt and on Wednesday 9th November they are holding an openning evening for all students in the Fermanagh area to let them see what they have to offer.
Donegal Fermanagh Youth E Forum
Congratulations Dean for winning the competition to name the E Forum, which is now called ‘Youths United’, also congratulations to our runner up Niall McGoldrick who won an MP3 Player, both were presented with their prizes at the October monthly meeting. Niall proved beyond doubt that he was a real gentleman in the making, when he presented Donna Leonard, who had also entered the competition, with the MP3 Player, which he had just received.
The Youths United web site was officially launched in Letterkenny on Wednesday 8th February. A number of Youth Councillors from Fermanagh and Donegal gave presentations on the progress of the e forum. Our very own Colin McCaffrey provided the music for the evening. Everyone got Youths united goodies from T Shirts to mouse pads. A great night was had by all those who attended.
The Youths United e forum is up and running, so if you are surfing the net with nothing to do, or have a burning question or issue that you think the Youth Council could help you with please don't hesitate to post!!
The project has taken a group of Youth Councillors from DYC and FSYC for a trip to Parliment Buildings where they got the background on the buiding and the Assembly. They also had the chance to have a question and answer session with a number of the local MLA'sand then there was a tour of the building.
There is a return trip to the Dail Eireann in Dublin so that Youth Councillors will be able to see and compare the jurisdictions.
Discounts
The discounts group have been working tirelessly canvassing local shops and businesses to get more discounts for students in Fermanagh. The majority of the shops in Enniskillen however are franchises controlled by a head office, which means that it is difficult and often impossible for them to offer discounts to the students who do not hold a University card or an ISIC card (International Student Identity Card).
Having said that you can always rely on FSYC to deliver and they have! Check out the latest edition of the FSYC newsletter to see all the discounts available. there are a load of new vouchers, from Island Discs to Papa's Fast Food in Irvinestown. Don't be a fool get out those scissors and save yourself some money!!
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