TWENTY-FIVE years ago, when the economy and public sentiment were as depressed as they are today, a national challenge awards scheme for young people was instituted under the patronage of the late President Patrick Hillery. It was an important initiative, encouraging young people to contribute in areas of community involvement, personal skills development, physical recreation and adventurous expedition. Their successes were marked by the presentation of Gaisce or “valour” awards in bronze, silver or gold.
Many changes have taken place in the intervening years. Wealth grew and was dissipated. Social divisions sharpened. Unemployment waned and then waxed again. Through it all, the President’s Awards held out the challenge of personal improvement to young people aged 15 - 25 years and encouraged their participation in community affairs. Mary Robinson devoted considerable energy to the project during her presidency. And now Mary McAleese is promoting it as yet another confidence-building measure, designed to feed into future economic and social development.
Our young people need such encouragement. The presentation of 50 gold awards by President McAleese at Dublin Castle this week shows what can be achieved. She praised the young people concerned and said they had not waited to be challenged by life but had presented themselves to be tested. This is a scheme that enriches the lives of young people, even as they contribute to their communities. A record number of 17,000 young people participated last year at three different levels. The awards are non-competitive and tasks are agreed in advance with a President’s Awards leader.
At the turn of the year, President McAleese facilitated a number of Joe Duffy radio programmes on RTÉ, designed to lift some of the gloom and despondency that had settled on society. Those interviews, involving a range of young people and artists, were determinedly positive and looked to a bright, creative future. In the same way, she sponsored “Your Country, Your Call”, a current initiative that has been designed to encourage and reward transformational ideas for economic development. Such official encouragement and positive action, outside the narrow – and sometimes damaging – confines of party politics, is hugely beneficial. Knowing what went wrong economically – and why – is vitally important. But shaping a future that encourages personal development and communal action is equally challenging.