Ombudsman for Children’s Office celebrates 20th Anniversary with Children’s Party in Cork City 

Up to 150 children from five local schools in Cork City were the special guests at a children’s party hosted by the Ombudsman for Children’s Office this week (Tuesday, Oct 8) to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

First class pupils from St Patrick’s GNS and BNS, St Brendan’s GNS, St Mark’s BNS and St Killian’s School, descended on Mayfield Sports Centre for an afternoon of face painting, disco dancing, balloon making and much more.

The Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) was established in April 2004 against the backdrop of historical neglect of children, with a remit to promote and protect the rights of all children living in Ireland.

Since then a lot has improved for children but there is still much work for the OCO to do, particularly for vulnerable young people. The theme of the our 20^th Anniversary is Tomorrow Starts with Us which came from the OCO Youth Advisory Panel.

The children’s party in Cork City was an opportunity for children to have fun, and to focus on who the OCO is working for; children themselves.

The Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, said:

“We’re thrilled to be down in Mayfield for the second of our children’s anniversary parties this year and love getting to meet some of the wonderful children in the local schools.

“Our teams try to get around the country as much as we can to meet as many children as possible, so our 20^th Anniversary provided a brilliant opportunity to do just that.

“I’m really proud of all our Office has achieved since we were first set up 20 years ago and the progress that’s been made for children’s rights.

“However, there is still much work to do to fully integrate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into Irish law and to promote a child centred approach to decision-making, where children are heard and their views considered by the policy makers and legislators.

“This was evident in last week’s Budget, which despite some welcome new initiatives for children overall, lacked a long term vision or strategy for children. We saw this particularly with the lack of measures to address child homelessness and child disability services. With child homelessness now at record levels, this issue must be prioritised by this and successive governments.

“As we face into a General Election cycle in the coming months, my Office will continue to raise these concerns with Government and policy makers and strive to make Ireland a better country for each individual child to reach their potential.”

ENDS

• 10 October 2024
• Type: Press Release