Aidan McGrath is an Irish youth activist. He is the former President of Ireland's National Youth Organisation. He was twice elected to represent his Constituency of

Fingal Fingal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which ...

in Ireland's National Youth Parliament, Dáil na nÓg, and was chairperson of both the Swords Youth Council and the Fingal Comhairle na nÓg. McGrath is a member of both Fingal County Council's General Strategic Policy Committee and the Planning Strategic Policy Committee. In 2010 he was named one of the top Youth Leaders in both the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

by the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals and the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland. McGrath continues to maintain a public profile in the area of political activism, and in 2012 he was named one of the top ten outstanding young people of Ireland by Junior Chamber International.

Education and childhood

McGrath was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and educated in Fingal Community College, Swords.

Public appearances

McGrath appeared on Today FM's the Last Word to discuss issues that concerned young people, in particular, the reintroduction of Third Level College Fees. He also appeared on Ireland's National Broadcaster

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

(Radío Telifís Éireann) to discuss issues that concerned young people in his capacity as President of the National Youth Organisation. He has appeared on other national radio stations such as

FM104 FM104 is an independent local radio station broadcast across Dublin, Ireland, on the frequency 104.4 MHz. It is operated by Capital Radio Productions Limited (unconnected with, and not to be confused with, Capital Radio plc), and is a sub ...

and PhantomFm, again highlighting the views and opinions of young people, in particular, students.

Activism

McGrath, on behalf of the

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

contributed advice to a forum held in Stormont, Belfast, which examined the setting up of a Youth Parliament for

's young people. He publicly addressed Northern Irish youth representatives from various communities and provided guidance on the issue. He was active in his own community as Chairperson of the Swords Youth Council and worked alongside Local Councillors, Clare Daly, Tom Kelleher, Anne Devitt and Darragh Butler in an effort to secure funding or a facility for a Youth Café for the young people of Swords. Their efforts received local media attention and support from the Community. He was later appointed to Fingal County Council's General Strategic Policy Committee. McGrath, as part of the steering committee of Ireland's National Youth Parliament, met with Mary Harney, TD and former Minister for Health in an effort to have the cervical cancer vaccine made available free of charge for all 12–18-year-old girls. On Saturday, 16 January, Mary Harney announced that the plan would be implemented.

Awards

In March 2010, McGrath was announced one of the Top Youth Leaders in the

by the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals and Pramerica Systems Ireland. He was nominated for the award for developing links between local government and young people, ensuring young people were involved in the decision-making process. In May 2012 he was nominated by JCI Fingal President Joanna Michalski to be named one of the top ten outstanding young people of Ireland. He was youngest nominee of 2012, and attended a ceremony in Cloonacauneen Castle,

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

to accept the award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcgrath, Aidan Living people People from Swords, County Dublin Year of birth missing (living people) Activists from Fingal