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Child Talks 2023

Child Talks is an annual event marking World Children's Day.

Child Talks 2023

Welcome to Child Talks, our special event marking World Children’s Day.

Streaming live Tuesday, 7th November at 11am

Child Talks is an annual event from the Ombudsman for Children’s Office to mark World Children’s Day that hears directly from children and young people about the issues that matter to them. This year we’re broadcasting live from the Helix in Dublin!

Now in its sixth year, Child Talks gives children a platform to share their views and experiences on issues that are important to them. The theme of this year’s event is ‘The Ireland I want to live in…’ with topics such as mental health, being LGBTI+ in Ireland, vaping, neurodiversity in schools, and access to STEM subjects for girls

Meet our speakers:

Charlotte

My name is charlotte, I am 10-years-old and I am from Navan, Co. Meath. I want to take part in Child Talks because I really want people to understand how challenging life can be for my neurodivergent twin sister, and sometimes myself; and how much better our lives could be if people made an effort to learn and understood a little bit more about autism and neurodiversity.

Eoin

My name is Eoin, I’m 16 and I’m from Foxford, Co. Mayo. I’ve known about child talks for a number of years now but something about the topic of this year which is “The Ireland I want to live in” really gave me the courage to sign up this year as we need change in this country. Mental health and Equality needs to be more talked about. We definitely have come a long journey as a country on talking about sensitive topics such as this but we need to go further. We need to show that self love and looking after your mental health is important and I want my Child Talk to help fight it. I hope my child talk helps people out there because we need change.

Bee

My name is Bee Fennell and I am 13. I’m from Newtownmountkennedy, Co. Wicklow but am Limerick at heart! My topic is education around the transgender community, specifically focusing on the youth side of it all. I wanted to take part in Child Talks 2023 because I wanted to share my story and hopefully encourage others to get the education needed to be a true ally to the community and to understand what it is like to be transgender.

Ruth

Hi! My name is Ruth Cunningham and I am 16. I am a 5th year student from Kilteevan, Roscommon. I’m interested in all things social justice such as mental health, climate change but most of all gender equality. My topic Child Talk’s is girl’s participation in STEM or lack thereof. I’m so excited to share my experiences of being a STEM student at OCO Child Talk’s this year!

Seamus

My name is Seamus and I am 17 years old. I am from Kilkock, Co. Kildare. At Child Talks this year I will be speaking about how schools could do more to help students manage their mental health. I want to take part in child talks because I was shown it last year when doing work experience in the OCO and felt inspired by all the stories I heard.

Lúcia

Hi, my name is Lúcia Keane. I’m 17 and I’m from Bohermeen, Co. Meath. The topic I will be discussing is extremely relevant in today’s society, vaping. I’m looking forward to being a part of Child Talks. It is a brilliant opportunity to voice my thoughts, opinions and concerns about such an important and relevant topic to a large audience and hopefully bring awareness to our country on the dangers of vaping and stop this potentially disastrous epidemic, before it’s too late.