Tom Johnson Summer School; Because People Matter Most - Protecting the Social Agenda'

Posted on July 06, 2010 at 05:53 PM

Tom Johnson Summer School
Cllr. Sean Ó hÁrgáin, Joan Burton TD, Cllr. Ann Phelan and Michael D Higgins TD in Kilkenny at the Tom Johnson Summer School

The Tom Johnson Summer School 2010 took place in Langtons Hotel, Kilkenny last weekend, attended by over 150 people. The Summer School is organised by Labour Youth for all members of the party each year, and presents a unique opportunity in the calendar for members to come together and engage in genuine dialogue around a range of issues.

The Summer School was opened on Friday evening by local General Election candidate Cllr. Ann Phelan. Alan Kelly MEP then made the official opening address, before we kicked off with our first panel discussion – focussed on protecting young people. The speakers for this session were Edward Mathews of ICTU Youth, James Doorley of NYCI, and Labour Youth Chairperson Rory Geraghty, and that robust discussion brought our opening evening to an end.

Saturday morning saw a fascinating discussion on Overseas Development Aid, with Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Joan Burton, academic Howard Stein and Colm O’Gorman of Amnesty International participating. Michael D Higgins then gave his annual Presidential Address, which can be found in our media centre.

And that afternoon, Mark Hennessy of the Irish Times, Christine Quigleyof Young Labour in the UK and Cllr. Cian O’Callaghandiscussed whether moving towards the centre in Government is inevitable.Finally on Saturday evening, Eamon Gilmore delivered his excellent Jim Kemmy Memorial Address, as well as presenting the annual Jim Kemmy Award to Jim Wyse of the Green Isle workers.

After a very energetic weekend, there was just Sunday morning left to go. Broadcaster Olivia O’Leary chaired a discussion on the role of today’s media in politics, with excellent contributions from Bernard Harbor of IMPACT, blogger Suzy Byrne, and Mark Coughlan of thestory.ie. And with that, we were done, and all left looking forward to Tom Johnson 2011.

Tagged with