Donegal Youth Council have voted in Shane Hegarty as the new Mayor who will lead the group over the coming year.
Shane Hegarty, from Stranorlar is a student at St Columba’s College and will be the chairperson of the Youth Council for the coming 12 months, ably assisted by Deputy Mayors Gemma Lynch from Deele College and Liam McBride of Mulroy College, Milford.
Shane told Donegal Daily he is looking forward to the challenges ahead for the Youth Council, “Becoming Mayor means the absolute world to me.
“I have a great passion for the work we have been doing in Donegal Youth Council and to be the mayor of such a brilliant group is a fantastic honour to have.
“In the upcoming year I hope to lead the youth council to deliver on more major projects which will hopefully improve the lives of young people in Donegal.
Shane replaces outgoing Mayor Aine McLaughlin from Moville, who oversaw the very successful SPARKS Mental Health roadshow project last year, with Gemma and Liam taking over from outgoing Deputies Mollie MacGinty and Natasha Gilmour.
Donegal Youth Council have a number of projects planned for the coming year, including the development of a sexual health service signposting website for Donegal, while they also plan to focus on promoting the Irish language, developing a discount card for young people in Donegal and helping provide a voice for LGBT youth in the county.
The Youth Council have also partnered up with a Youth organisation in Romania for a Youth Democracy project which will focus on encouraging young people to participate in politics.
This project will see the Youth Council travel to Romania for a week in July.
Donegal Youth Council is funded by Donegal County Council, HSE Health Promotion and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and aims to provide young people with opportunities to identify, prioritise and work on topics and projects which have been identified by the wider youth population of the county.
For more information on the Donegal Youth Council, you can contact Council Co-ordinator Marty Keeney on 087-6806676 or email youthcouncil@donegalyouthservice.ie.