Five amazing young speakers will took to the Helix stage today (Wednesday, November 20) for Child Talks, the Ombudsman for Children’s Office’s (OCO) award winning event celebrating World Children’s Day. Hosted by RTÉ’s Mark ‘the Science Guy’ and past speaker teen Eoin Murphy, the speakers delivered inspiring and uplifting talks in front of a live audience of more than 1,000 school children from across Ireland.
There was a special performance of the viral summer hit ‘The Spark’ from the Lisdoonvarna Crew and entertainment from young superstar magician Cillian O’Connor from Britain’s Got Talent.
Now in its 7 th year, Child Talks 2024 saw Ben (16), Sarah Ann (15), Ronan (13), Anna (17) and Bel (17) discuss important topics like single-parent families, young carers, growing up as a neuro-divergent child in rural Ireland, girls in sport, and loneliness. There was also a video documentary from the students at Stonepark NS, Longford, who set up a ‘Kids Court’ to warn drivers of the dangers of speeding outside their school.
Young DJs Cillian and Rocco from Music Generation were on the decks to open the show. Children also tuned in from their classrooms around the country on the OCO’s livestream oco.ie. Speaking ahead of the event, the Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, said:
“We’re absolutely delighted to be hosting our seventh annual Child Talks at the Helix on World Children’s Day, with the show going from strength to strength every year.
“We’ll have over a thousand children from schools in Dublin, Tipperary, Kildare, Longford, Mayo, Westmeath, Meath, Galway and Wexford, and there will be hundreds more tuned in on our livestream to hear what our fantastic speakers have to say.
“This year’s talks are really topical, chosen and crafted by our young speakers themselves who have been working hard since last summer, but also reflecting issues that many people are facing in homes throughout Ireland today.
“The challenges faced by carers and for single parent families for example, being neurodivergent, obstacles for girls in sport and the importance of road safety, all things that are sure to come up on the doorsteps for politicians throughout this General Election campaign, but uniquely told from the lived experiences of children.
“Child Talks is a very special event that promotes children’s voices from our speakers to our young entertainers like the Lisdoonvarna Crew, our young superstar magician Cillian O’Connor and our talented young DJs from Music Generation. There is something for everyone.
“As World Children’s Day is marked around Ireland and indeed the world, we are proud once again to host an event for children, by children that really showcases how when children are given the opportunity to be heard, they have something very important to say.”
