Dàil nà nòg (1 Viewer)

[wild_cat]

I attended Dàil nà nòg yesterday. And what a waste of my saturday day in my eyes. It seems to be another organisation set up by fainna fail to look good and also came accross that the main aim of the day was to try get young people to try control other young people on the drinking & drugs front. Most of the people there had never drank before and seemed to hate other teenagers that did so I dont see the point of them being the voice of the teenagers in Ireland today when most of the teenagers today in Irelands idea of a good night out is getting drunk and not getting caught. There was some good point on getting under 18's free transport with CIE but we were told that it could take between 5 to 10 years for this to come about. By which time I will be old. The two main issues of the day were :

- The abuse of drugs and alchohol.
- Facilities for young people.

I found that most of the city kids are so up there own arses on the facilities they have , the general jist i got from most of them was that they needed more on tope of the ones they already had access to and the rural areas didnt matter , if only they lived in rural Ireland for the day with no bus service and the only thing for fun is a hurl. When some one made the point of rural areas getting more funding some arsehole of a city kid stood up and said whats the point of giving them more funding if all they are going to build is a shed. DUH!! thats why we need more funding so we can build more than a shed. We then had a vote on the government giving rural areas more funding and 57% said they shouldnt. And also when they gave us our lunch yesterday all the vegetarians had to eat was carrot sticks and letus. There was a few good points made by the slightly alternative looking crowd but if the future of ireland is in the hands of the people I seen yesterday my advice is to save yourself a lot of anger and move or hide now. Also one of the chairs was a 13 year old skanger to confident for her own good and as rude as fuck. There was another chair that was much older than her and very well spoken. If any thing yesterday has thought me to hate the Irish government and the Irish public even more than I did before.

 

[The]

Did you stand up and say anything????
You better have!! No point telling us like!

 

[wild_cat]

Did you stand up and say anything????
You better have!! No point telling us like!

Oh me and this other lad tried to have a go at her about her comment but when we asked if we could we were told there wasnt enough time and maybe at the end . When the end did come we were completely ignored and not let speak ... Im getting so pissed off thinking about it.

 

[The]

ah sure you know these things...if people haave been attending them a while they always get a look in over anyone else.. I dunno how they run it I would never have been spurred on to going to a dàil na nòg thingy to be honest.. I am a poor citizen. They are probably all talking out of their asses anyway..the youth of today what?!

 

[wild_cat]

ah sure you know these things...if people haave been attending them a while they always get a look in over anyone else.. I dunno how they run it I would never have been spurred on to going to a dàil na nòg thingy to be honest.. I am a poor citizen. They are probably all talking out of their asses anyway..the youth of today what?!

We were asked in school if we wanted to be on the county youth board and I said yes. Then all our names were put into a hat and four people went.

 

[jane]

Don't give up the fight, Roisin.

If more young people did stuff like bother to go to this Dail na nog thing, rather than bitch about it just being ineffective, maybe someday it would actually be effective.

How do I say this without sounding patronising? This country needs more young lasses like you.

But in ten years, you'll be old!? Sheesh, you'll still be well younger than I am now. And actually, it will still matter to you that kids have nothing to do, if anything because marauding bands of teenagers that have nowhere to go will begin to annoy the hell out of you, despite the fact that you know they have little choice.

 

[It Will Never Last]

Fair play to you for caring enough about your future to get involved in something like this, and the fact that you were pissed off by events is encouraging, cos it hopefully means you'll stay involved and try to get things changed. Gotta pull you on one thing though:

There was some good point on getting under 18's free transport with CIE but we were told that it could take between 5 to 10 years for this to come about. By which time I will be old.

Isn't the point of it all to make changes that will benefit the community as a whole, not just the individual? Is it any less worthy becasue you won't benefit from it? I'll never benefit from asylum in Ireland, but I'd like to see changes to the way its administered. Make sense?

Otherwise keep up the good work.

 

[wild_cat]

Hmmm... Im not sure but I dont think I will have anything more to do with the dail na nog because each group voted a person to go forward and i got no votes. Maybe it was because I was the only one at the table that didnt hate people like my friends who drink and every time I opened by mouth I said something dumb and pro getting shit faced , we were split in to different groups to discuss different issues I was on the drugs and drink misuse one. But today in school my teacher gave me a thing about a youth debate about this EU consitution organised by the NYCI its on Saturday the 9th of April in Dublin Castle I prefer this over local issues because im very interested in the workings of the EU and how it plans to fuck us over even more.

 

[jane]

Hmmm... Im not sure but I dont think I will have anything more to do with the dail na nog because each group voted a person to go forward and i got no votes. Maybe it was because I was the only one at the table that didnt hate people like my friends who drink and every time I opened by mouth I said something dumb and pro getting shit faced , we were split in to different groups to discuss different issues I was on the drugs and drink misuse one. But today in school my teacher gave me a thing about a youth debate about this EU consitution organised by the NYCI its on Saturday the 9th of April in Dublin Castle I prefer this over local issues because im very interested in the workings of the EU and how it plans to fuck us over even more.

Ah, well, they sounded like a bunch of jerks anyway. I reckon the EU thing sounds like more fun. I meant to ask you if they do Model United Nations here, and then, by coincidence, I noticed a sign for some Model UN thing going on at Jury's Ballsbridge, so I guess it happens to some extent here. It doesn't actually mean having input as part of a youth lobby (which sounds like something you're more into), but I did it in high school and it was really interesting, at least in terms of learning about global politics. Most of the people into it just wanted to put it on their college applications, and, like the other kids in your thingy, were mostly trying to outdo one another for halos, but I ended up totally obsessed, so I didn't care much that I had little to say to them.

Anyhoo, it was a great experience in learning how the UN worked, and in debating skills. I probably spent more time digging through UN archives than I did in school or doing schoolwork combined, and I loved it.

All this stuff about 'getting kids off the streets' and giving them things to distract them from alcohol are great in theory, but they never appealed to me. They always just seemed too churchy and Pollyanna-wholesome. I was well into things that did not involve boozing, but how do we (as in 'members of society who genuinely give a crap') go about helping teenagers find stuff to do that isn't just something a couple of adults think is good for them, or isn't just a lame excuse for keeping them on a short leash?

Sorry for the long post, but I'm honestly curious. Obviously, like most ladies your age, you drink a bit, but you have other interests. What kinds of things would you like to see happen?

ETA: By the way, I'm not asking you to explain yourself, I'm interested in what you think. I do archaeology stuff with kids and teenagers, and I'm kind of considering trying to set something up on a more regular basis. I want to make sure it doesn't suck.

 

[Cormcolash]

Fuck it, quangos don't work, anyone fancy helping me set up a dictatorship?

 

[wild_cat]

In all honestly I dont know what could get teenagers off the streets all the people I know like vodka , dutch gold and hash to much to go any where. And then if there were places they would get drunk before they went in (ive seen and done this , ive even been drunk in the cinema a few times , the worst being during harry potter when there are 60 other children under the age of 10 in the cinema with you) . They may just face it , we are going to drink our selves into a hole every weekend , we know what might happen us if we continue to do so , but we dont care .

Its at night that most drinking is done . Id go to those workshop things you talk about setting up but then later that night id go get drunk. The only way I see binge drinking being stopped altogether to ban from the island . Which i dont see happening.

Thanks for the rep by the way.

 

[jane]

In all honestly I dont know what could get teenagers off the streets all the people I know like vodka , dutch gold and hash to much to go any where. And then if there were places they would get drunk before they went in (ive seen and done this , ive even been drunk in the cinema a few times , the worst being during harry potter when there are 60 other children under the age of 10 in the cinema with you) . They may just face it , we are going to drink our selves into a hole every weekend , we know what might happen us if we continue to do so , but we dont care .

Its at night that most drinking is done . Id go to those workshop things you talk about setting up but then later that night id go get drunk. The only way I see binge drinking being stopped altogether to ban from the island . Which i dont see happening.

Thanks for the rep by the way.

See, I think that's the thing, though. Not 'getting kids off the streets' so much as young people having the opportunities to do stuff they're into. 'Off the streets' to me implies having them babysat, and when you're 16, you want some damn independence, and the first instinct anyone has at that age is to defy authority (or kiss authority's ass, but I never liked those kids much).

At the moment, it seems there's little more for kids in rural areas to do than go to underage discos drunk, play sports, or do other stuff that someone else has organised.

I started boozing when I was a teenager, but I was fortunate to be able to get to cheap gigs every weekend. The thing that made them so much fun was that they were organised by other young people, just for fun, and not by some starry-eyed parent hoping to keep their kids sober One Day at a Time. Yeah, we drank, but it wasn't about just drinking, and most of us didn't even drink that much. The laws are stricter in the US, but still, we had an easy enough time getting our hands on booze, especially the cheapest kind of booze, the kind that can kill you. Like Night Train. And Cisco. And fucking Everclear (how is that actually ever a good idea?).

Thing is, not all kids are into punk rock music, so it doesn't work for everyone. The DIY thing has always been driven by people who are quite young, and far more capable than most adults give them credit for. I think that's the main difference between something like Blast, and the (dare I say?) 'proper' DIY scene. Blast is some adult organising stuff, wagging his tail at parents, looking for a biscuit in exchange for his promises to take good care of their kids because it's an alcohol-free event. But, well-intentioned as it might actually be, those kids are probably more likkered-up than anyone because it's somebody doing something for them, rather than just them doing it because it's good fun to organise stuff with your friends, or go to something organised by people you might relate to, where you can feel like you're taking part, rather than just attending.

There's always going to be underage drinking. There always has been and there always will be, and while I don't think it's the healthiest thing (it's really scary, actually, the amount some kids can drink, and the amount some kids think they can drink), but so many of these activities seem to be just about distracting kids from the booze. It seems that the interest is in treating young people as some sort of problem that needs to be dealt with, rather than kids being granted the freedom to do it themselves. Ok, they get a little drunk. You catch them, you do your adult duty, and you give out like hell about how bad that is -- it actually makes me kind of sad to see really drunk teenagers, and you never know what it looks like until you see it from the adult side.

So, what I mean is, is any of the talk about providing opportunities for young people ever about anything BUT curbing binge drinking? Do you think that, underage drinking issues aside, if there was just more good stuff for young people to do that was actually fun and interesting, they'd just be happier?

The last place you would have caught me when I was a teenager would have been an 'Alcohol-free event for teens'. I'd rather have cleaned out my backyard drain with my throbbing, cankered tongue.

Crikey. Did I just write that much? Arg, back to the 1570s with me now.

 

[Latex lizzie]

Ah, well, they sounded like a bunch of jerks anyway. I reckon the EU thing sounds like more fun. I meant to ask you if they do Model United Nations here, and then, by coincidence, I noticed a sign for some Model UN thing going on at Jury's Ballsbridge, so I guess it happens to some extent here. It doesn't actually mean having input as part of a youth lobby (which sounds like something you're more into), but I did it in high school and it was really interesting, at least in terms of learning about global politics. Most of the people into it just wanted to put it on their college applications, and, like the other kids in your thingy, were mostly trying to outdo one another for halos, but I ended up totally obsessed, so I didn't care much that I had little to say to them.

Anyhoo, it was a great experience in learning how the UN worked, and in debating skills. I probably spent more time digging through UN archives than I did in school or doing schoolwork combined, and I loved it.

All this stuff about 'getting kids off the streets' and giving them things to distract them from alcohol are great in theory, but they never appealed to me. They always just seemed too churchy and Pollyanna-wholesome. I was well into things that did not involve boozing, but how do we (as in 'members of society who genuinely give a crap') go about helping teenagers find stuff to do that isn't just something a couple of adults think is good for them, or isn't just a lame excuse for keeping them on a short leash?

Sorry for the long post, but I'm honestly curious. Obviously, like most ladies your age, you drink a bit, but you have other interests. What kinds of things would you like to see happen?

ETA: By the way, I'm not asking you to explain yourself, I'm interested in what you think. I do archaeology stuff with kids and teenagers, and I'm kind of considering trying to set something up on a more regular basis. I want to make sure it doesn't suck.

archaeology with a few drinks/spliffs thrown in..you could do a "drugs through the ages" style thing..you would be the talk of the lecture circut!

 

[jane]

Fuck it, quangos don't work, anyone fancy helping me set up a dictatorship?

Sure, I'll PM you the blueprints for my palace. Tell those monkeys not to skimp on my airstrip this time.

When I'm not trying desperately just to click the little box in the corner that closes Thumped, I'll outline a plan I had a few years ago for starting my own country. It was to be a refuge for postgraduate students who regretted ever getting caught up in all this mess. With no marketable skills, the only option seemed to be setting up an independent nation.

 

[jane]

archaeology with a few drinks/spliffs thrown in..you could do a "drugs through the ages" style thing..you would be the talk of the lecture circut!

Actually, I was looking at something recently that had some bit about the 'archaeology of intoxication'. Can't remember what it was, though. Anyway, I think the best way to keep underage drinking under control is to do things the way my parents did: "If I catch you drinking, I'll break your thumbs." With an occasional, "If you drink, you die. That's what drinking does. People who drink all die. So if you drink and you die, you deserve it." Same went for rollercoasters, skateboards, motorcycles, and sex. Scared me pretty damn well.

 

[The]

I was reading the examiner yesterday and there was an article on that dail na nog actually with the very 13 year old you were talking about Roisin. There was a picture of her and all.. supposedly she doesn't want to drink cos she is still growing and doesn't want to put her body under pressure. and she wants to start her own political party. Man I was so immature when I was 13.

 

[wild_cat]

Theres gigs in wexford town a lot where local bands play but every one gets drunk before they go in , they are on every weekend. I mainly get drunk down there because its the only way I can stand most of the other people down there.

 

[wild_cat]

I was reading the examiner yesterday and there was an article on that dail na nog actually with the very 13 year old you were talking about Roisin. There was a picture of her and all.. supposedly she doesn't want to drink cos she is still growing and doesn't want to put her body under pressure. and she wants to start her own political party. Man I was so immature when I was 13.

Lord does she even under stand the poltics of the various parties we already have in Ireland. Her slogan would be

"the skanger party"
We are here to be rude and think we are cool​

 

[IFF]

when i was in secondary school, we had a vote for the junior council. i decided to spoil my vote by having a big long ranting thing about why i wasn't voting. all the posters that was up for the election contain "Vote for [insert name here, he/she is the best". i felt dissatisfied by the canddiates

though the student union elections at dkit are very similar to that, now that i think of it