Main pic: Students from Loreto Secondary School, Letterkenny, who won an Advocacy Award for their ‘Revive Our Roots’ project which aims to promote a love of Irish language and culture. Pic: Marc O’Sullivan.
Next generation change-makers from Donegal were celebrated at the recent 2025 national Young Social Innovators (YSI) Awards.
Their outstanding YSI projects tackle important social issues such as domestic violence, Lyme disease awareness, promoting the Irish language and culture, deforestation, youth socialisation and food insecurity.
Seven teams from Donegal, who have taken part in the YSI programme in their secondary schools, were among 42 teams from across Ireland shortlisted.
Three of the Donegal teams received awards at a special ceremony on 13th May in the Aviva Stadium, which was attended by special guest, Minister Jerry Buttimer, and emceed by John Sharpson, presenter of RTÉ’s Home School Hub.
Roger Warnock, CEO of Young Social Innovators, with students from Rosses Community School, Dungloe, who won the overall Young Social Innovators of the Year Bronze Award for their ‘Tick Tack Go’ project, dedicated to raising awareness of Lyme Disease and creating tick removal kits to protect people living in high-risk places Photo: Marc O’Sullivan.
The awarded teams were from Rosses Community School, Dungloe, who won the overall Young Social Innovators of the Year Bronze Award for their ‘Tick Tack Go’ project, dedicated to raising awareness of Lyme Disease and creating tick removal kits to protect people living in high-risk places.
A team from Loreto Community School, Milford won the Making Our World a Safer Place Award for its ‘Break the Silence, End the Violence’ project which aims to raise awareness of domestic violence against men, women and children.
Students from Loreto Community School, Milford who won The Making Our World a Safer Place Award for its ‘Break the Silence, End the Violence’ project which aims to raise awareness of domestic violence against men, women and children. Photo: Marc O’Sullivan.
A team from Loreto Secondary School, Letterkenny won an Advocacy Award for their ‘Revive Our Roots’ project which aims to promote a love of Irish language and culture.
The four shortlisted Donegal teams were from St Columba’s College, Stranorlar for their ‘Medicine Mile’ project which encouraged members of their school community to walk a mile, individually or collectively, to support their mental health.
Another team from St Columba’s College was shortlisted for their ‘Seeds of Change’ project which aims to plant more native Irish trees to tackle air pollution and improve air quality.
A team from Scoil Mhuire Secondary School, Buncrana was shortlisted for their ‘Next Wave Youth Leaders’ project which aims to improve socialisation among young people in an out-of-school setting. Another team from Scoil Mhuire Secondary School was shortlisted for its ‘Nourish and Flourish’ project which aims to reduce food insecurity by providing food parcels to the families of students who may have struggled to buy groceries.
Commenting on the high standard of projects shortlisted for the 2025 YSI Awards, CEO of YSI, Roger Warnock, said: “The cutting-edge social issues being addressed in the projects shortlisted for the 2025 YSI Awards, including from Donegal, and the young people’s commitment to finding solutions demonstrates how important social innovation education is for empowering our young people. I’d like to congratulate all the young people who have taken part on the remarkable passion, dedication, resourcefulness and creativity they have brought to their participation in our YSI programme in their school.”
For more information about Young Social Innovators, see www.youngsocialinnovators.ie
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