Tar Isteach Youth Group
Visit the New Lodge Forum website to view the Tar Isteach Youth production of the United Irishmen.
Anti Bullying Event
The anti bullying event in the Long Gallery Stormont was a great success, over 150 young people came to the event and 8 different schools were represented. The event was organised by young people from Tar Isteach Youth and the Northern Ireland Youth Forum. On the day a member of Tar Isteach youth chaired the event and a young person from NI Youth Forum and Tar Isteach Youth were on the panel to answer questions along with Junior Minister Gerry Kelly MLA, John McAllister MLA, and representatives from the Anti Bullying Forum and NICCY. The key message from the event was that young people would go back into their homes, schools and communities and carry the anti bullying message with them.
The NI Youth Forum nominated the group for the Newington Credit Union awards in which they won an award for their Anti Bullying campaign. The ceremony took place on the 29th April 2010 in the Landsdowne Hotel in a fantastic night organized by the Newington Credit Union.
Tar Isteach Youth was nominated for the Thomas Devlin Young Peoples Awards 2010 and were awarded the Silver award in the Youth Forum Category for Belfast. This is a fantastic achievement and it has motivated the group to want to do even better for their community. The ceremony took place in the Waterfront Hall and was attended by over 500 young people from across Belfast.
Belfast Children’s Festival
This event took place on Saturday the 22nd May in the Waterworks Park. Tar Isteach youth went along to the event to show support and volunteer. It was a fantastic event and the young people have signed up to help out at similar events.
Old Museum Arts Centre – My Active City Project
This project was launched on Thursday 27th May at 4.30pm in the City Hall. It was a fantastic event, the art pieces that the young people created were exhibited to the highest standard, the short film that they made was shown and members of Tar Isteach Youth spoke at the event. The exhibition will stay in the City Hall for a month for members of the public to view. In terms of outcomes, as well as a lasting exhibition that can be exhibited around community centre’s and the DVD the young people have became firm friends with the young people from The Village and Dee Street and we have a number of summer activities planned that we can do together. BBC Radio Ulster has also been out to interview the young people and they attended the launch. The interview will be broadcast on Sunday morning under the Sunday Sequence programme.
Events for All – May Day Funday
This event took place on Sunday 30th June in McCrorry Church, Duncairn Gardens. It was a fantastic event with huge numbers turning out from Tigers Bay and New Lodge. Tar Isteach Youth were responsible for organizing the Old Time Street Games such as skipping, egg and spoon, sack race etc. They took this very seriously and worked hard all day making sure the games were organized safely and fairly. They also helped out with face painting and near the end of the event organized a five as side friendly with young people from Tigers Bay and New Lodge. The Events for all committee will continue to meet on a monthly basis to plan and organize our next event.
Summer Intervention Funding
Tar Isteach have been attending meetings around the Summer Intervention Funding. The meetings have included youth workers, interface workers, community workers local GAA and Soccer Teams from the New Lodge. We have put together a proposal that based on the evaluation of previous years identifies gaps in provision that have led to rioting and interface activity will fill those gaps and ensure that young people have an alternative to interface activity. The gaps in the provision have traditionally been Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons, if we are successful in this application we will ensure that those times are filled with activities for young people.
Keep Safe This Summer Poster Initiative
Tar Isteach have been attending meetings facilitated by NBIB around the design and implementation of this year’s poster campaign. As you are aware young people from Tar Isteach supported this vital message last year and spoke at the launch of it, we are keen to do the same this year and will offer NBIN any support they need in getting this vital message out there.
Summer Scheme
We have recently got confirmation that we received £1,700 towards our summer programme from Belfast City Council. We are currently putting the finishing touches to our summer timetable. We hope to have these finalized in the next week.
Tar Isteach Carnival Funday
We have also recently got confirmation that we received £4,000 from Community Relations Council towards this event. The planning is now underway to organize the 11th Carnival Funday. From a carnival perspective every year the young people pick at theme for the carnival, last year it was anti racism in solidarity to the local family who were being abused. This year they want to do it around celebrating life as unfortunately some of their friends over the last year have taken their own lives so they want to put a positive youth message out there.
Computer Suite
This continues to be a big support to the young people. All of them are in the middle of their summer exams and the older youth group are doing GCSE’s and A Levels. The additional computers have provided a much needed resource for the young people and they call in at all times of the day to study and prepare their coursework. For the next month the onus will be on providing practical support to the young people in the build up to their exams and also emotional support as the stress of exams can really get to them.
Belfast Children’s Festival
This event took place on Saturday the 22nd May in the Waterworks Park. Tar Isteach youth went along to the event to show support and volunteer. It was a fantastic event and the young people have signed up to help out at similar events.
CIRCA Project (Cross Interface Relations through Community Arts)
This project is facilitated by Arts for All on the Shore Road and is funded by the IFI. It involves young people from Tar Isteach working with other young people from Tigers Bay, Deanby Youth Club, Westland Community Group, Mountcollyer Youth Group, Holy Family Youth, St Paul’s Church of Ireland Youth, Woodvale Youth Group and Ardoyne Youth Group. Tar Isteach have been twinned with the group from Tigers Bay as they are our closest neighbours. This project is a long running one and it will run for two years, the purpose being that we hope that meaningful relationships are formed over the two year period. The groups will explore ways to express themselves through art, already the groups have met and are interested in working on a drama that could tackle important issues that our community faces such as drugs and suicide. This project has started and Tar Isteach Youth have been twinned with young people from St Paul’s Church of Ireland who are based on York Road. This project is ongoing.
Grotto Group – now officially called Events for All
The grotto group met during February to hold a half day planning session around picking a name for the group, aims and objectives of the group and calendar of events for the year ahead. The group is now officially called Events for All, it’s made up of youth and community workers and arts providers from New Lodge and Tigers Bay. The aims and objectives of the group are to organize events throughout the year that everyone in the community can enjoy. The first event is planned for May Day where we hope to organize a sports day on Duncairn Gardens, which will be closed off that day. This group is continuing to meet on a regular basis and we are currently working on funding applications for the May Day Bank holiday.
Tierna Cunningham,Tar Isteach Youth Worker, sixth from right, and her group outside the Hillman Street office, at the launch of their Rosa Parks mural tribute. The group are deeply involved in the community life of the New Lodge area.
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Tar Isteach Youth Dec 07 residential and team building programme, North Antrim
On 28th October 2006, several republican ex-prisoners' children were among a group who visited the site of Armagh women's jail. The jail closed in 1986 but during the conflict had housed many women republican prisoners. 
The tour was facilitated by Armagh City and District Council and was led by two former women prisoners, Jennifer McCann and Pauline Quinn.
Both women spoke of their time there and recounted the conditions under which the women were held and the various situations which had arisen throughout the years. These included an escape attempt, the no-wash protest, the hunger strike of 1980 and strip-searching.
There was a touch a touch of nostalgia as Jennifer showed Fionnuala Stanton the cell in which her mother, Kathy, gave birth to her older sister, also called Kathy, when she was imprisoned there in 1985. Jennifer and Pauline also recalled the many women who had passed through Armagh but have since passed away.
Dominic Adams
Once again the members of Tar Isteach Youth helped organise, plan and volunteer for the August 2007 Annual Funday and Carnival Parade
New Lodge youth group win Presidential award
TOMORROW’S LEADERS: Young people from Tar Isteach all smiles ahead of a prestigious award
BY EVAN SHORT
NEW Lodge youth group Tar Isteach were celebrating this week when it was announced they are to receive an award from President Mary McAleese. The award is to acknowledge the positive role the group has carried out in the promotion of the Greater New Lodge community and will be presented to a member of the group In Dublin.
The Tar Isteach Youth Group is part of the New Lodge Ex-Prisoners’ Association and is made up mostly, but not entirely of the children and grandchildren of republican ex-prisoners. The award is being presented In association with The Young Citizenship Awards which are organised as part of the wider European Year of Citizenship. The children involved in the group have taken part in local political, social, cultural and environmental initiatives and have been at the forefront of peace-building ventures, as well as partnering ethnic minority organisations in creating a diverse society in which all young people can thrive.
Ciara Stanton from the group will collect the award from President McAleese at áras an Uachtaráin on March 14. Youth Worker Tierna Cunningham paid tribute to the children who have made the group such a success.
“The young people who make up Tar Isteach Youth have not only contributed to each other’s development but they have also contributed to the development of their own community. They are great ambassadors for their families, for Tar Isteach and the Greater New Lodge in general. I believe we have some of tomorrow’s leaders within this group. I sincerely hope that Tar Isteach can continue to be the vehicle through which these young people can fulfil their unlimited potential.”
http://www.youth.ie/news/clarnanog/2006_04.html
