The Ark and Children’s Rights Alliance celebrate 21 years

There was both laughter and serious business as The Ark and the Children’s Rights Alliance celebrated their 21st birthdays at the children’s cultural centre in Temple Bar, Dublin, on Thursday.

Kicking off the day-long event was a screening of a short film called “It’s a Right!” which was made by The Ark’s children’s council, a gathering of 15 children aged about 12.

Aideen Howard, director of The Ark, said that children’s lives were at the heart of the event, which featured contributions from author Roddy Doyle, children’s book illustrator PJ Lynch, musician Brian Irvine, academic John Coolahan and children’s rights campaigner Jillian Van Turnhout, among others.

Tanya Ward, the chief executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance, said the past 21 years had seen much change in children’s rights.

She said that, in 1995, children had few rights to protect them from abuse, and around that time “there were 17 reports detailing how we had failed children”.

However, she said there had been a lot of progress “from that low point”.

She said that mandatory reporting protocols on child abuse had been put in place, there was now a national children’s strategy and a Minister for Children and there had been necessary legislative changes, including one which allowed step-parents to become guardians of their children for the first time.

Children’s referendum

“In 2012, the children’s referendum gave children proper rights as people and in 2014-2015 the ground of reasonable chastisement for striking children was removed,” she said.

“We are moving to a point where children are seen equally - we still have the highest child poverty rates in the EU, homeless children and children with psychiatric problems housed with adults with psychiatric problems,” she said.

Founding director of the Ark Martin Drury said art could be seen as the process of conveying ideas and feelings and sharing experience.

“Over the past 21 years, the Ark has created opportunities for children to discover and love the arts, exploring theatre, music, art, film and dance, among other forms of expression,” he said.