6th February, 2013

Young Leaders at Leinster House 2013

On Wednesday February 6th, 30 Young Leader members gathered for an intimate night inside Leinster House. The group was joined by The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan, T.D.
To kick off the evening Erica Roseingrave welcomed the group, and thanked all involved for putting together such a special evening.  
 
Caitriona Fottrell, Director of The Ireland Funds spoke to the group about the work that the Ireland Funds is doing in conjunction with the government to promote Philanthropy within Ireland, specifically our involvement in the Forum on Philanthropy. The Forum has set out specific targets to increase philanthropic giving throughout Ireland.
 
The drivers for this increase in giving fall under four overarching themes: A National “Giving Campaign”, Improving the fiscal environment and infrastructure for giving, Developing fundraising capacity among not-for-profits and Creating a National Social Innovation Fund
 
Minister Deenihan spoke about the work the government is doing in promoting Philanthropy as well as initiatives to ensure the proper funding to the Arts. The Minister was highly complementary of the work of the Ireland Funds and is delighted to see so many young people taking an active role in becoming Leaders within the Philanthropic sector.
 
The Minister was happy to take questions from the group before we headed off on a personal tour of The Oireachtas lead by fellow Young Leader, Senator Mark Daly. Mark gave an entertaining and informational tour of both Houses: Dil ireann (the House of Representatives) and Seanad ireann (the Senate). After the tour the Young Leaders headed to The Dil Bar
 
Unbeknownst to us our event actually fell on what would turn out to be a very busy night in Leinster House! The Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Bill 2013 was introduced in emergency session late that evening and debated until it passed all stages through both houses at 6am on Thursday morning.  

The Young Leaders had  the opportunity watch the debate from the public gallery and had quite a memorable evening as they witnessed democracy in action.