Fourteen young people today (Wednesday 25th June) celebrated completing ‘Building Leadership’, the rural community leadership programme promoting peace and reconciliation at a ceremony at the Marketplace Theatre, Armagh. The programme, launched in April 2007 by YouthAction Northern Ireland, delivers employment based initiatives to young adults in rural communities and is funded by the International Fund for Ireland, the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation, managed for the SEUPB by the Northern Ireland Rural Development Council (RDC), and the Rank Foundation.Combining community youth work with practical work experience, the programme is designed for 18-25 year olds, living in rural areas, who want to gain experience and qualifications and ultimately move into leadership roles within their community. This year’s participants were employed as trainee community leaders over an 18 month period completing training and a community youth work placement in a local community organisation. Hosts of today’s event were Andrew Magennis who completed his placement with the Southern Education and Library Board (SELB) Youth Service in Keady and Mairead Farrell who worked in the Rural Health Partnership, Cullyhanna. On receiving his certificate Andrew commented: “I am extremely thankful for the opportunity YouthAction has provided for me and I feel it has really benefited me for the future. It has left me now with many options! I don’t think any other programme offers as much experience and qualifications to young people as this one.”Denis Rooney, chairman of the International Fund for Ireland said: “This programme is an excellent example of providing a starting point to build a better, more positive future for young people and their rural communities. The International Fund for Ireland is committed to funding programmes that contribute to building a shared and more peaceful future for generations to come. The young people involved are truly inspirational and we know that their communities will benefit from their hard work and dedication in the years to come.”Denis also congratulated Youth Action Northern Ireland on their excellent co-ordination and management of the programme.Chief Executive of the Rural Development Council (RDC) Martin McDonald added: “We are so proud to be supporting this programme which has such a great effect on the young people involved and their communities.  The funding we have provided contributed directly to the running of the programme and the training and development of the 14 community leaders. We are delighted to have invested in these young people and look forward to seeing more of them in the future.”June Trimble, Director at YouthAction N.I commented: “You only have to look around at the young community leaders today to see how much they have changed and gained confidence during their 18 months training and working. The young leaders have reached out to well over 560 young people in the community groups which is fantastic. I would like to thank our funders the International Fund for Ireland, Rural Development Council and the Rank Foundation for making this programme possible, and congratulate each and every one of the young leaders. We are looking forward to them transferring their leadership skills and putting them to good use within their own local communities.”

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