We are delighted to share that Rory Barrett from our London office attended the Youth Policy Dialogue for the European Commission recently which was hosted by the Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, and the Rule of Law Michael McGrath. It was hosted in the Irish Architectural Archive in Dublin, and it was attended by 30 youth participants from across the EU – specifically people from Sweden, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Italy, France, and Ireland.

The goal of the dialogue was to promote youth participation in engaging with democracy because of the recent rise in far-right populist parties in certain countries in the EU, which has put democracy at risk of being eradicated.
The event was deemed a success with so many bright ideas coming to light of different ways to encourage the youth to go out and exercise their right to vote – with ideas such as how politics is taught in the education sector of different EU Member States and how certain quotas should be introduced into political parties meaning that certain age groups must have a representative party member “of that age group”. The day was concluded with a visit to Experience Ireland – a new interactive exhibition located in Chatham Street where Rory learned about the ins and outs of how the European Commission and Parliament go about their work.