BACK TO TY CIAN O'CALLAGHAN:TRANSITION YEAR is about so much more than projects, trips away, or new and exciting subjects. It's a chance to step back, take some time to think, and get involved in a world beyond yourself.

Labour party councillor Cian O’Callaghan left Belvedere College, a private school in Dublin’s north inner city, in 1997. Run by the Jesuits, the school has a proud tradition of reaching out to the local community. This tradition was to have a profound impact on O’Callaghan’s worldview.

“I used to visit a woman in her 90s every week,” he says. “I had a huge amount of respect for her; she was so full of life and a real fighter. She grew up in such a different world. One of her brothers died in the first World War, and having lived through the founding and development of the Irish state, she had seen huge changes in her life. Week by week, I heard different parts of her life story.”

During TY, O’Callaghan took part in various charity campaigns, including a walk to Galway in aid of Temple Street Children’s Hospital and the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. This was also when he became involved in a campaign for justice for East Timor, then subject to a brutal occupation by the Indonesian military.

“There’s no doubt that the Jesuits are generally progressive, encouraging of young people, and quite often to the forefront of social justice campaigns,” says O’Callaghan. “Over time, I became more socially active, and TY gave me the space to get involved in wider political issues and international campaigns.”

In college, O’Callaghan became active in student politics, eventually working as an officer with the Union of Students in Ireland. Last year, he was elected as a councillor for the Howth/ Malahide ward, a role he has relished ever since. “I’ve huge respect for people involved in their local communities. I really believe that change at a local level makes it possible on a national and international level. It’s about thinking global, and acting local.”