Annual Youth Forum suggested for this Kildare Municipal District

The idea was suggested by a local councillor

By Ciarán Mather Published 16th Jun 2026, 14:00 BST Annual Youth Forum suggested for this Kildare Municipal District | FILE PHOTOGRAPH / PIXABAY The idea was suggested by a local councillor Sign up to our Kildare Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Kildare Live within your account.

The establishment of an Annual Youth Forum has been suggested for one Municipal District (MD) in County Kildare .

The suggestion was heard at the latest Athy MD meeting, which took place on Monday, June 15 last.

Near the end of this meeting, Labour Party councillor Mark Leigh motioned for the Athy MD to establish an Annual Youth Forum in order to ‘allow secondary school students to bring issues directly to councillors’.

His motion was seconded by his party colleague, Cllr Aoife Breslin.

Labour Party Cllr Mark Leigh | PHOTO CREDIT: COUNCILLOR MARK LEIGH VIA FACEBOOK In response to Cllr Leigh’s motion, Kildare County Council (KCC) said via the report it presented at the meeting that this would be a matter for the members to agree upon.

KCC also pointed out: “The elected councillors would have to resource and manage such a project.”

Speaking further on his motion, Cllr Leigh expressed his view that young people living in the MD ‘should have a strong voice when it comes to local government’.

He also said that it could serve as ‘an opportunity to teach them about local democracy and how it works’.

Following his comments, a representative of KCC who was also in attendance at the meeting told Cllr Leigh that there was already ‘an established mechanism’ in place in the form of Comhairle na nÓg , an initiative which provides local youth councils.

“However, we could write to Comhairle na nÓg, about this idea,” the rep added.

The rep also told Cllr Leigh that they would liase with him after the meeting in order to see what can be done to progress the matter further.

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