The summer of 2019 will surely be one to remember for the young people from BreakOut.
Members travelled to Dublin for Pride recently and the group has also just celebrated 10 years of BreakOut. The project at Donegal Youth Service supports young LGBTI+ people, their friends and allies ages 18-30 throughout the county.
There were 33 young people from BreakOut in attendance at Dublin Pride. The day started off with Youth Work Ireland’s annual ‘Pride Breakfast’, an opportunity for all of the regional youth groups to come together before marching through the streets of Dublin. This colourful event included a ‘Pride Wall’ where young people enjoyed writing and drawing positive messages, an ice-cream van and lots of food. This year An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar also made a surprise visit.
An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Youth Work Ireland’s Pride Breakfast
All of the youth groups marched together in the parade, down O’Connell Street and congregated at Merrion Square Park where there were speeches, drag performances, politicians and music throughout the day.
“For many young LGBTI+ young people it can be their favourite day of the year as it is the one day of the year they can not only be themselves, but celebrate what wonderful people they are,” said a DYS spokesperson.
“Some of the many highlights for the young people were meeting a mum who was giving out free hugs to anyone who needed one, as some young LGBTI+ people have indicated that they are not accepted by their parents, and another highlight was meeting Senator David Norris who led the ‘Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform’ the movement to decriminalise homosexuality in the 1970s.”
BreakOut Group at Pride
“This has been an amazing summer for BreakOut. We celebrated our 10 year anniversary with a birthday party. There were some heartfelt speeches from young people that caused a tear or two and plenty of laughing. We all enjoyed a trip down memory lane, looking at how much we have already achieved. There were multiple cakes decorated to represent different sexualities and genders, which the young people truly appreciated,” said original Breakout member and active volunteer Karen Conlon.
BreakOut is looking forward to what the next ten years has in store for them, as the project has grown from strength to strength.
BreakOut 10th Birthday
At the first meeting in 2009 there were only 4 young people, and now it has grown to a countywide service with regional groups in Glenties and Moville, as well as two groups in Letterkenny supporting ages 12-17 and 18-30.
BreakOut is funded by Donegal Youth Service, HSE, BelongTo, Healthy Ireland and the Department of Children & Youth Affairs.
If you are a young person interested in attending BreakOut, or you would like more information you can contact BreakOut Youth Worker Sinead Murray Lynch in confidence on 0861247968, or email sinead.murray@donegalyouthservice.ie you don’t have to be ‘out’ to attend BreakOut. You can also contact Donegal Youth Service: 0749129630, pop in to 16-18 Port Road Letterkenny, www.donegalyouthservice.ie, we are also on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Donegal Youth Service is a registered charity. Charity No. CHY 15027.
