Councillors engage in 'speed-dating' event

For the seventh year running, local authorities and schools across Northern Ireland were encouraged to take part in the - now European wide campaign - ‘Local Democracy Week’. Supported by the Local Government Association (NILGA), the campaign aims to encourage young people to get more involved in local government while creating an awareness of their local council.

Building on the success of previous years, the Councillors’ “dates” were a number of young people from Moyle Youth Council who came armed with questions they wished to put to their local representatives.

Pairs of young people each had a 5-minute interaction with a Councillor, during which they could ask anything and then, regardless of how engrossing the conversation, moved on to the next Councillor. They also had to allocate a score to each Councillor based on issues such as approachability, listening skills and willingness to understand their issues.

Council Chairperson, Cllr Price McConaghy said, “Moyle District Council encourages our young citizens to engage with local government, to ensure they help shape their councils for the future. Tonight was one way of encouraging an ongoing relationship with our young people and was an enjoyable and productive exercise for all involved”.

Research has shown that the majority of young people do not view local politics as having an impact on their daily lives; a good starting point to challenging this attitude is to bring local politicians and young people closer together.

The event formed part of the Good Relations Programme for Moyle District Council, being one of several initiatives to enhance Civic Leadership. Ryan Moore, Good Relations Officer, commented, “Political Speed-Dating is a fun, light-hearted way for young people to interact with their representatives. It can help them to understand the issues that face Moyle and how they can play a part in the community now and in the future.”

At the end of the evening, the scores were totted up and Cllr Cara McShane was awarded with a certificate for “Winning Councillor.”