Barbara Hegarty and the passion in coding

Denis and Cara interviewed Barbara Hegarty at the CESI Conference.  Barbara is the National Co-Ordinator for CoderDojo Ireland.    In our interview Barbara told us about CoderDojo and also about her role in CoderDojo Ireland.


Denis and Cara

Youth Media Team

Interview with Craig Dwyer

Amy and Cara interviewed Craig Dwyer at the Media Literacy Ireland Autumn Conference. Craig told us about himself and his involvement in the Transparent Referendum initiative. Craig also shared his thoughts on how to make informed choices online and what kinds of media literacy we should be looking for. He described himself as a tech activist while also being a tech optimist and explained what he meant.

Amy and Cara

Youth Media Team

Interview with Peter Feeney

Cara and Roisin interviewed Press Ombudsman Peter Feeney at the Media Literacy Ireland Autumn Conference. Peter told us about his role and responsibilities as Ombudsman. He also shared his thoughts on importance of events like this conference.

Cara and Roisin

Youth Media Team

Interview with John Hartnett

Aoibheann, Emma, Denis and Roisin interviewed John Hartnett the founder and president of the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITGL) at the ITGL Young Innovators event in Shannon Airport. John told us about why he founded ITGL and the work that he does. He also spoke about how important events like today are, as now young people don’t have to wait until their 20s or 30s to be an entrepreneur. John’s advice to us as young people was to follow our passions and to think outside the box when looking for solutions to problems.

Aoibheann, Emma, Denis and Roisin

Youth Media Team

Interview with Gavin Duffy and Barry O’Sullivan

Aoibheann, Emma, Denis and Roisin interviewed the two male Dragons, Gavin Duffy and Barry O’Sullivan from Dragons Den at the ITLG Young Innovators event. Gavin and Barry told us about their background and what it’s like being a dragon. Gavin and Barry also spoke about how learning about businesses and entrepreneurship from a young age can be hugely beneficial. They were surprised we asked about the gender balance in the Den because for them it’s all about good ideas and competitiveness.

Aoibheann, Emma, Denis and Roisin

Youth Media Team

Interview with Eleanor McEvoy, Chanelle McCoy and Alison Cowzer

Emma, Aoibheann, Denis and Roisin interviewed the three female dragons, Eleanor McEvoy, Chanelle McCoy and Alison Cowzer from Dragons Den at the ITLG Young Innovators event. The ladies told us about their background and how it feels to be called a dragon. All of them were very passionate about young people in business and how events like today are so important for them to learn more and get inspired from the generation of the future. They also felt that gender balance is key and that they were looking forward to a future where ‘its the norm’ for women to be behind successful businesses.

Emma, Aoibheann, Denis and Roisin

Youth Media Team

Big Reasons LIT Supports Young Innovators

Vincent Cunnane. Photo by James Connolly.
Vincent Cunnane, President of LIT.ie

Professor Vincent Cunnane, President of LIT and Dr. Liam Brown, Vice President for Research Enterprise and Development for LIT, explained why the Limerick Institute of Technology enthusiastically supports young innovators. Liam and Vincent spoke about their roles in LIT and why young people continue to drive the success of entrepreneurship in Ireland.

Roisin and Denis

Youth Media Team

Interview with panel members at #LeargasForum


Amy, Anna and Cara interviewed four members of the panel discussing “The role of educational exchange and cooperation programmes in shaping the future of Europe” at the Léargas Forum. The panel members were Senator Alice Mary Higgins, an independent Senator and leader of the Civil Engagement Group in Seanad Éireann, John McLoughlin, Deputy Principal at Galway Technical Institute, Mary Moynihan, writer, theatre and film-maker and artistic director of Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Human Rights and Samantha Ncube, a ‘No Hate Speech’ youth ambassador and a participant int he European Youth in Migration forum.

Each of the panel members spoke a little about themselves and the projects they were involved in before sharing their thoughts with us on the importance of connections in shaping our future. Finally they spoke about how involvement in Erasmus+ projects can help to broaden the horizons of young people like ourselves.

Amy, Anna and Cara
Youth Media Team

To find out more about
– the Erasmus journey of students in John’s school check out GTI EU Placement
– the ‘No Hate Speech’ movement check out No Hate Speech Movement in Ireland
– Smashing Times check out Smashing Times

Interview with Ruairi McKiernan

Cara, Anna and Amy interviewed Social Innovator and Campaigner Ruairi McKiernan at the Léargas forum. Ruairi delivered a very thoguth provoking keynote address and we used our interview to get him to recap on some of the ideas he spoke about. Ruairi shared some insights into life in a direct provision centre as well as some reasons why we need to stand in solidarity with those who are marginalised in our society. He spoke about the need to find work with purpose and the need to re-energise ourselves in order to be able to continue standing in solidarity with others. Ruairi spoke about the very important work of youth organisations and how they can help so many young people. Finally he shared about the imprtance of Erasmus+ projects like ‘Building Walls, Breaking Walls’.

Cara, Anna and Amy
Youth Media Team