Category: News

Over 150 young people from across Donegal and the North West attended the Youthopia Future Fair in Oakfield Park in Raphoe on Thursday (27th April).

YOUTHopia is an EU funded project led by the Assembly of European Regions in partnership with Donegal County Council. The YOUTHopia project aims to make sure that young people across Europe understand and are aware of EU Cohesion Policy and seize the opportunities it offers.

The impact of Cohesion Policy on young people in Europe was the focus of the YOUTHopia Future Fair 2023. Cathaoirleach Liam Blaney welcomed Micheal O’Heanaigh, the Assembly of European Regions Vice President for Youth, Culture & Tourism to the event who touched on Cohesion Policy impacts.

YOUTHopia Future Fair highlighted the unique opportunities and challenges that young people face, topics which all the keynote speakers touched upon. The speakers included one of Europe’s youngest serial entrepreneurs, Jordan Casey who spoke about youth entrepreneurship and his journey growing his own tech business.

Carmel Irandoust, the founder of NETOVE spoke about being an advocate for Diversity, Equality, Inclusion, Justice and Peace. Local youth entrepreneur from Letterkenny, Sab Medlar from SourcedBySab also talked about her journey in setting up her own business in Donegal. Youth Climate Ambassador Taidhg Trocme provided an insightful and thought-provoking talk on climate change.

This one day event had an action packed agenda allowing the participants to take part in interactive workshops focused on topics including career pathways, skills for the future, innovative project design and creating a professional LinkedIn profile and CV. Donegal Youth Council MC Erin Gallagher and friends were on hand to keep the event running smoothly.

YOUTHopia was held in partnership with the North West Tertiary Education Cluster comprised of the ATU, Donegal ETB, the North West Regional College and Ulster University. JoAnne Kilmartin from the NWTEC said “with 2023 being the EU Year of Skills, the North West Tertiary Education cluster was delighted to co-host the YOUTHopia event providing an opportunity for young people in the region to learn first-hand about the future of work and skills and the pathways available from all four educational providers in the North West City Region”.

The young people in attendance also got to experience fun activities provided by Donegal Sports Partnerships “Lets Play Donegal!” initiative and enjoyed an amazing freestyle football demonstration and tutorial by 4-time and current Irish Freestyle Football Champion, Conor Reynolds!

A brilliant event that can be summed up by Nelson Mandela’s quote “Youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow”.

On Friday 7^th October 2022, Atlantic Technological University hosted a conference exploring the economic and social potential of the North West region in terms of education and employment, with insights from guest speakers.

The conference was addressed by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Mr. Simon Harris T.D., who outlined the Government’s commitment to supporting education collaboration on an all-Island basis.

Over 150 guests attended the event with economist, David Mc Williams sharing his views on best practice for transforming the region into a growing economy.

Former RTE Northern Editor, Tommie Gorman hosted the event which examined cross-border activity taking place in the region and highlighted plans for future collaboration in terms of employment and education, with partners working in collaboration to provide leadership, opportunity and the development of a talent pipeline for the region and beyond.

The conference was organised by the North West Tertiary Education Cluster (NWTEC) comprising of the four main Educational Institutions in the region, and includes Atlantic Technological University (ATU), Donegal Education and Training Board (ETB), Ulster University (UU) and North West Regional College (NWRC). The cluster was established with the aim to bring about real and positive change to the region by supporting enhanced economic prosperity and social benefits to the region through education and employment.  Funding for this initiative in 2019 and 2020 was secured through the Irish Higher Education Authority (HEA), and specifically a funding stream to support the restructuring of the higher education landscape.

Speaking about the conference, President of the ATU, Dr Orla Flynn, referring to the skilled workforce, availability of talent, connectivity, and the quality of life in the region, said: “This is a project of huge strategic importance to the North West and one ATU is delighted to be a partner in. Together with Donegal ETB, Ulster University and North West Regional College, we want to make the North West region an attractive place to study and work and this cluster will play a vital role with other key stakeholders to ensure that we continue to develop the region for everyone”.

Vice-Chancellor and President of Ulster University, Professor Paul Bartholomew further added, “Since the formalising of our further and higher education cluster in 2018, collaboration between the partner institutions on both sides of the border has continued to present opportunities to deliver on our shared vision and objectives for the region and beyond.  Improving access to tertiary education and training for students living and studying in the North West City Region, the partnership is increasingly informed by those core growth sectors that are reflected in Ulster University’s contribution to the Derry City and Strabane District Council City Deal.

Through enabling progressive student pathways that reflect current and future careers across diverse sectors such as healthcare innovation, artificial intelligence, industry 4.0 and data science, the North West Tertiary Education Cluster is uniquely placed to support the career aspirations of students and the growth ambitions of the region.”

The conference concluded by hearing from leaders in industry and education discussing why it is best to look to the North West.