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SAM BLANCKENSEE WANTS to become the first-ever transgender election candidate in Ireland.
The 21-year-old Wicklow native said the lack of political representation of trans people is “a real barrier to positive visibility within the community”.
I got involved with politics to amplify the voices of marginalised communities and to represent young people and give them a voice.
Sam, who is a member of the Labour party and active in student politics at UCD, started the transition from female to male at the age of 18.
He is considering running in the general election but would likely be up against Anne Ferris if he decided to do so. With this in mind, he said running in the next local election in 2019 might be a more realistic prospect.
Sam is one of 30 potential election candidates (aged 30 or younger) taking part in Youth:Elect – a project developed by Future Voices Ireland that aims to boost youth involvement and interest in politics, particularly among those from marginalised backgrounds.
Mairead Healy, CEO of Future Voices, told TheJournal.ie the programme is “about giving the Dáil new life and making our political landscape much more reflective of the modern and diverse society that Ireland has become”.
The young people that we work with on our other programmes in Future Voices deserve role models in politics who are from their areas, are from diverse backgrounds and care about issues that affect their lives. Through the Youth:Elect programme we aim to give our young people representatives that they can relate to.
Ciara McPhillips (28) has been a Fine Gael councillor in Monaghan since 2011. She attended UCD through the ACCESS programme to study law.
Ciara said there has “rightly” been a lot of talk about gender quotas in recent times, but pointed out that “young people are equally under-represented” in politics.
“An absence of young people in any profession or vocation can lead to inertia and a repetition of the same old ways. Additional young persons in our council chambers and the Houses of the Oireachtas will not only benefit young people but all of our community – as a new energy and enthusiasm is infectious,” she stated.
Shane O’Brien (29) is also a councillor, representing Killiney/Shankill on Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.
The Sinn Fein member plans to run in the general election to “help give young people a voice”.
“It is my aim to act as role model for other young people who may consider entering politics in Ireland. Young people are simply under-represented in Dáil Éireann,” he said.
Emma Murphy (30) is from Ballyboden in Dublin. She ran as a Fianna Fáil local election candidate last year.
“Coming from a local authority background myself and also as a woman in politics I think that Youth:Elect will enable me to challenge the obstacles which can arise for young people in attempting to enter politics or to participate in political life,” Murphy noted.
All images c/o Future Voices
Youth:Elect will be launched at the Mansion House in Dublin at 6pm today. More information is available here.
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If the Palestinians want solutions to their problems they need to start at home. They have no leadership worth discussing. No point in having an independant state if you cant run it. While Israel is a large part of their problems they themselves inspire little confidence in peaceful co existance.
Meanwhile life goes on as normal
“In June, the Islamic Jihad held the “Generation of Faith” summer camp in Rafah for boys aged 6-16. The camp activities included various military exercises, such as “kidnapping soldiers,” firing guns using live ammunition, and crossing obstacle courses. The campers also heard lectures on religion, and were trained in various other fields, such as first aid, scouting, civil defense, martial arts, and behavior during emergencies”
Lovely. Mort’s post speaks volumes about the “downtrodden” Palestinians.
Much like the Israeli practice of military service then ?
If you were under military occasion for forty six years , military training might seem like a good idea too ?
6 year old boys being trained to kill, so sad.
The IDF have no problem shooting six year olds, even sadder.
What are you talking about Gavan? The IDF do not target children. Hamas on the other hand like to push their own children directly into harms way. Hamas also like to use imagery taken in other conflicts and claim it as something happening in either Gaza or in the West Bank. You’ve probably never been to either Palestine or Israel and just like spouting nonsense on a topic that you are completely clueless about.
Cowards hiding behind women and children. No backbone.
Yeah the Palestinians played up on that Muhammad al-Durrah “shooting” for years but the French Supreme court and a new review of France 2′s unedited footage have killed that lie. If, and it’s a very big if, he was shot the shots came from Palestinians. Then there are the numerous cases of them using pictures of dead and injured children from Syria and claiming them as Palestinians. Or the propaganda from Egyptian PM Kandil with the body of four year old Mahmoud Sadallah who they claimed was killed by the IAF, but the UN report found was hit by a Hamas rocket.
It’s you who seems to be both clueless and brainless Brian. The IDF have been murdering children for years , hundreds of them in both Palestine and surrounding countries, read the UN and other reports of the assault on Gaza if its not too much for you
And when Hamas fire rockets indiscriminately into Israel, what do you call that?
It is murder, the same as sending an F 16 or apache helicopter to bomb a civilian area
And when the rockets are fired from civilian areas, where should the response be directed?
That’s the standard excuse the IDF use,unfortunately it does not hold up, like when they attacked the UN base in Lebanon killing hundreds of people and the video evidence proved there had been no rocket fire from the base.
The UN and HRW are both on record accusing Hamas of firing indiscriminately into civilian areas, from civilian areas in the west bank, including a UN funded school. Using civilians as both targets and human shields are both considered war crimes.
The IDF use civilians as human shields, it is called the neighbour policy, and have committed more than their share of war crimes , including using white phosphorus depleted uranium munitions and the whole collective punishment of the Palestinian people, all considered war crimes under the Geneva convention.
have your say