Skills Academy
for Future
Leaders
The Skills Academy for Future Leaders was a 3-day
summer school put on by Youth Connect and the
ISSU between the 31st of July and the 2nd of August
across a number of the unions in Dublin. Over 40
students between the ages of 14-18 attended from
all over Ireland for the 3 day event.
Workshops of a huge variety were provided for the
students, all with the intention of nurturing their
hunger for activism as well as providing them with
the skills needed within leadership. Workshops
varying from Interview Skills, provided by the PSEU,
Respect and Dignity, facilitated by the DRCC and a
Campaign workshop, from SIPTU. The aim was to
promote and encourage young leadership within
students, while highlighting the issues that they will
soon be facing upon entering the workforce and how
best to handle them.
On the second day of the event, a panel discussion
took place with a number of Trade Union officials, to
discuss the future of work in Ireland. This helped to
give the students a greater insight to where the work
sector is headed and what they should expect upon
entering the workforce themselves. It also gave the
union officials a great opportunity to directly interact
with the next generations of workers, to find out what
the issues that mattered to them were and what
could be done better to keep a line of
communication open between the unions and the
youth.
As well as the workshops, there were a number of
fun filled activities scheduled for the students. The
students were given a walking tour of the Abbey
Theatre where they learned about the history of
Ireland’s National Theatre and its significance within
the history of Ireland. The students were also treated
to a pop-up Gaeltacht on the second morning.
In total the summer school was a huge success and
allowed two demographics that rarely have the
opportunity to engage with one another, to do just
that.
For further information about what Youth Connect does or if you are
interested in learning more about your rights as workers then you can
visit our website at
www.Youth-Connect.ie
or email us at [email protected]
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