Dermot Earley Youth Leadership programme 2021/22 

Who?

Applicants must be members of a Cuala GAA club and between 15 and 18 years of age. However please note participants must be 16 yrs in order to graduate from NUIG in 2022. If still 15yrs on this date you can still complete all three modules but your submission of module 3 work and graduation will be deferred until 2023 along with other participants in the same position. This is because you must be 16yrs to graduated from NUIG with this 3rd level qualification.

When?

The programme will run over three modules between the end of September 2021 and May 2022 consisting of 30 hours of workshops and an additional  20 hours of a community action project, if you decide to complete module 3.

What?

During the programme participants will gain aptitudes in essential leadership skills in a safe and supportive environment. Module one focuses on the individual and their leadership skills, building their self-awareness, community skills, values and communication skills. Module two focuses on their ability to lead as part of a team enabling them to cultivate their skills further. Module three focuses on the participant’s individual leadership aspirations and offers the participants the opportunity to lead their own project within their community from conception to completion.

Costs?

Module 1 and 2 costs €40 (to cover materials) and Module 3 costs €300 (all proceeds to NUIG for the accreditation). Participants only decide if they wish to do module 3 after completing Module 1 and 2.

Facilitators

The programme will be facilitated by trained Cuala volunteers including some past programme participants and the programme will be held locally.

Accreditation

Participants who successfully complete all three modules including the 20 hours of community action will be eligible to receive a Level 6 Foundation Certificate in Youth Leadership and Community Action from NUIG.

To complete module 3 and graduate in 2022 participants must be at least 16 years of age on the 1.1.22 (NUIG regulation. Participants who do not meet this criteria can still complete the 3rd module and their work will be submitted in 2013 allowing them to graduate from NUIG then.

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED

Mairead’s Experience

Cuala GAA’s Mairead Martin is a great example of a young person who benefited enormously from her DEYLI experience and has used the skills she learned to contribute positively to her club and the wider community.

A DEYLI graduate in 2017, this year the 21-year old NUIG student volunteered as a facilitator with the Cuala’s DEYLI programme.

It’s to her credit she managed to do this remotely from Calais in France where she was also volunteering with an NGO supporting refugees in the French city.

“I was working with this small project called Human Rights Observors based in Calais,” says Martin.

“There are loads of different organisations helping the refugee crisis there but our particular one was working to defend people’s rights in regards to the police because there is a huge amount of police violence in Calais.

“I didn’t really know what I was getting into. I had been in Calais before but I was working in the kitchens serving meals so that was a lot easier than this which was very full on.

“We’re a very small team, a group of seven, and there were very long days starting from 5am and finishing at 8pm. We were following the police because they do huge evictions every 48 hours in Calais and we need to be present during all of those.

“It was tough but it was still a great experience, I can’t really put an adjective to it.”

Full article here