Ombudsman for Children’s Office marks 20 years

Up to 150 children from five schools in Cork city were the special guests at a recent party hosted by the Ombudsman for Children’s Office celebrating its 20th anniversary.

First class pupils from St Patrick's GNS and BNS, St Brendan’s GNS, St Mark’s BNS, and St Killian’s School, descended on Mayfield Sports Centre last week for an afternoon of face painting, disco dancing, balloon making, and much more.

The Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) was established in April 2004 against the backdrop of historical neglect of children, with a remit to promote and protect the rights of all children living in Ireland.

Though there has since been much progression in the protection of children’s rights in Ireland, the OCO continues to work tirelessly, particularly for vulnerable young people. The theme of the OCO’s 20th anniversary is Tomorrow Starts with Us which came from the office’s Youth Advisory Panel.

Speaking during the celebrations, the Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, said: “We’re thrilled to be down in Mayfield for the second of our children’s anniversary parties this year and love getting to meet some of the wonderful children in the local schools.

“Our teams try to get around the country as much as we can to meet as many children as possible, so our 20th anniversary provided a brilliant opportunity to do just that.

“I’m really proud of all our office has achieved since we were first set up 20 years ago and the progress that’s been made for children’s rights,” added Dr Muldoon.

There is still much work to do to fully integrate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into Irish law continued Dr Muldoon.

He said: “This was evident in last week’s Budget, which despite some welcome new initiatives for children overall, lacked a long-term vision or strategy for children. We saw this particularly with the lack of measures to address child homelessness and child disability services.

“With child homelessness now at record levels, this issue must be prioritised by this and successive governments.

“As we face into a General Election cycle in the coming months, my office will continue to raise these concerns with government and policy makers and strive to make Ireland a better country for each individual child to reach their potential,” concluded Dr Muldoon.

For more information on the OCO and the work it does, visit oco.ie.