Kilteevan teen addresses hundreds of schoolchildren at Child Talks 2023

A County Roscommon teenager was one of six young speakers to take to the stage at the Helix in Dublin for Child Talks 2023, the annual World Children’s Day event hosted by the Ombudsman for Children’s Office.

At the event Ruth Cunningham (16) from Kilteevan spoke about girls’ participation in STEM subjects at school.

Almost 1,000 schoolchildren from Roscommon, Kildare, Dublin, Wicklow, Cork, Westmeath, Mayo, and Meath attended Child Talks 2023, now in its sixth year.

This year’s speakers ranged in age from 10-17 years and their chosen topics included mental health, being LGBTQ+ in Ireland, vaping, neurodiversity in schools and access to STEM subjects for girls.

Ruth said that she was interested in all things social justice such as mental health, climate change but most of all gender equality. “My topic for Child Talk's was girls’ participation in STEM- or lack thereof. It’s so exciting to share my experiences of being a STEM student at OCO Child Talks this year.” Presented by Mark the Science Guy and past speaker Sophia Mulvany, there was also live entertainment from special guests, Matilda’s Alisha Weir and singer Michael Moloney from the Late Late Toy Show.

Children from across Ireland applied to take part in Child Talks. Over the past number of months, the Ombudsman for Children’s Office, with the support of Dublin Story Slam, worked with the young people involved to help them tell their story.

The Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, said: “Child Talks has been running for six years now and is going from strength to strength. We’ve had so many brave and passionate young people tell their stories over the past few years and this year is no different.

“Hearing from children on the issues that matter to them is an integral part of the work of our Office and we were delighted to provide this platform to young people again this year.”