Meet Ciara O’Brien, one of two of Ireland’s UN Youth Delegates serving a 2026-2027 term. Aged 21, Ciara has been involved in youth advocacy since their teenage years.
In this new role, they will help champion youth representation at an international level, voicing their views on global policies and decision-making. Ciara believes young people are especially underrepresented when it comes to the issues that most impact them.
Attending events non-stop, Ciara looks back on their first months in the role, from visiting a United Nations exhibition at Ireland’s Ploughing Championships, to the General Assembly High-Level Week in New York.
UN exhibition surprises at Europe’s biggest farming event
Ireland celebrated its annual National Ploughings Championships in September, the largest agricultural festival in Europe. This year set in the green fields of Screggan, the Championships had over 240,000 visitors over its three-day run.
Nestled among the myriad of stalls, farming demonstrations, and machinery, the UN’s travelling exhibition ‘Shared Lives, Shared Future’ had set up shop. Inviting visitors to read about the many ways that the UN impacts our daily lives, it seeks to illustrate how an international institution can make tangible changes for individuals, one personal story at a time.
“Showing where people’s lives are concretely being changed is really important,” Ciara notes, adding that “UN spaces can become a massive echo chamber.” They recognise how reaching into new spaces such as the farmer’s community can “appeal to a whole different audience, which is really valuable because it’s something that’s very difficult to do.”
Ciara further emphasises the importance of expanding the UN’s presence into groups that feel excluded or disengaged. “A lot of rural communities can feel isolated by global efforts towards climate,” Ciara states as an example.
The exhibition tells stories from people of all walks of life, including Pablo, a farmer from Uruguay. He was able to convert farm waste into renewable energy with the help of UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation).
“There’s an empathy gap a lot of the time, and these [stories] really help to bridge that,” Ciara acknowledges.
The UN’s busiest week of the year
Ciara also attended the UN’s General Assembly High-Level Week in New York. World leaders convene annually to engage in face-to-face diplomacy and tackle pressing global challenges.
Alongside the General Debate, side events are opportunities for delegates such as Ciara to make their voices heard.
“There’s a lot of conversations where young people are integral, but they’re not mentioned,” Ciara details. “That’s our job as youth delegates, but it’s also very important to me personally. I think young people should be included in spaces like these.”
Ciara was most inspired by a workshop hosted by two young people on the role of youth in the climate movement. “There were so many thoughts on youth inclusion that I had never considered.”
A particular highlight of the week was getting to meet other youth delegates, but also getting to speak with politicians and diplomats on an equal footing.
“There’s something nice about normalising the UN,” Ciara recounts, detailing that they got to meet with Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin, and even Malala, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and UN Messenger for Peace.
“It’s really valuable to be able to make a personal connection with someone and then build that into a political connection.”
Looking beyond High-Level Week
After a busy set of engagements in New York, Ciara reflects on what they would like to see carried forward by world leaders, and what the priorities should be for Ireland.
Earlier this year, the Government of Ireland consulted children and young people on what they would like to see changed in the country. Issues with education and preparation for work were just a few of the main concerns. Other problems included discrimination, and young voices going unheard when it comes to major political decisions that affect their lives.
For Ciara, the top concerns for young people include climate change, gender inequality, educational improvements, digital literacy, and AI.
“All of those things are advanced as long as youth are in those rooms,” concludes Ciara.