- Young Fine Gael
Infobox Political Youth Organization
name_english = Young Fine Gael
name_native = Ógra Fhine Gael
president=Barry Walsh
mother_party = flagicon|IrelandFine Gael
founded =1977
headquarters = 51, Upper Mount St,Dublin 2
regional1_type = European
regional1_name =Youth of the European People's Party (YEPP)
website = [http://www.yfg.ie www.yfg.ie]Young Fine Gael (YFG) is the autonomous youth wing of the major Irish
political party Fine Gael . It is a major presence in political circles in third level institutions as well as in some towns and constituencies in the Republic of Ireland. It offers its members scope to assist in formulation of political policy, and the day to day running of the senior party. It is a constituent member of theYouth of the European Peoples Party , the youth wing of the Europeanchristian democratic grouping. Its president is Barry Walsh.History
Young Fine Gael were formed in 1977 as part of the internal reforms to Fine Gael instigated by Garret Fitzgerald who had become leader of the party. They grew rapidly with over 100 local branches of YFG being formed by 1978. During the 1980s they pursued a fairly liberal agenda, supporting the repeal of Ireland's homosexuality laws; a ban on the state funding on single-sex schools; and greater family planning options. Nowadays there is a broad range of political viewpoints held by members, ranging from centrist and social-democratic to the more conservative.
Organisation
YFG has a range of policies that it developed in conjunction with its own members. It has policy committees ranging from the Social Affairs committee to the Northern Ireland committee. These policies have on occasion been adopted by the senior Fine Gael party. YFG's constitution however allows for the organisation to act on its own, independent from its parent party, enabling it to promote its own political objectives.
YFG structure is based upon the European election constitutions. Its consists of
Dublin ,Leinster (Ireland East),Munster (Ireland South) and Connaught/Ulster (Ireland West). Each province inturn has an elected regional organiser to represent them on the National Executive, and regional councils in which the individual branches can meet and engage in discussion and set out agenda. These regional councils are designed to energise members from the same region and provide innovation in the group as well as in its senior party. Such groups have proven a valuable facet in the workings of the organisation, providing the party with an academy type structure where members are offered scope to work through the party organisation and forward the ambitions of the youth party and its membership.Branches
Some of the prominent branches of YFG include,
University College Dublin YFG ,University College Cork YFG ,Trinity College YFG ,University of Limerick YFG , Dublin City University YFG, Cork North West YFG,National University of Ireland, Galway YFG , National University of Ireland, Dun Laoire YFG, Maynooth YFG, Kerry North YFG andYFG Letterkenny .YFG operates an online ezine, the Informer.
President and Executive
A President and National Executive is elected at the national council of YFG, which must be held at least once every 18 months.
* President:
Barry Walsh
* Vice President: Liam Quinn
* National Secretary:Alan Gallagher
* National Organiser: Stephen Behan
* Campaigns Officer: Michelle Perry
* Policy Officer:Eric Keane
* Dublin Regional Organiser:Conor Rock
* Munster Regional Organiser:Hollie Dowling
* Leinster Regional Organiser:Mel Farrell
* Connaught/Ulster Regional Organiser:Daniel Burke [ [http://yfg.ie/contact_us.php Young Fine Gael ] ]
Young Fine Gael National Chairs/Presidents
* 1
Roy Dooney 1978-1979
* 2Richard Daly 1979-1980
* 3Colm Burke 1980-1981
* 4John "Jim" Finucane 1981-1983
* 5Chris O'Malley 1983-1984
* 6Annette Connoly 1984-1985
* 7Michael O'Dowd 1985-1986
* 8 Brian Murphy 1986-1988
* 9Ken White 1988-1989
* 10Billy Stamp 1989-1990
* 11Tim Rea 1990-1991
* 12Colm Brophy 1991-1993
* 13John Mullens 1993-1995
* 14Tony Sutton 1995
* 15 David Byrne 1995-1996
* 16 Arthur Lynch 1996-1998
* 17Conor Price 1998-1999
* 18Patrick O’Donovan 1999-2000
* 19Aida Goold 2000-2001
* 20Gerard O’Connell 2001-2003
* 21William Lavelle 2003-2004
* 22Patrick O'Driscoll 2004-2006
* 23Elizabeth Munnelly 2006-2007
* 24Barry Walsh Incumbent PresidentRecent Campaigns
* Homeless Solidarity Campaign (2003 & 2004). Sleep-outs in Dublin, Cork and Limerick to raise awareness of Irelands' homelessness problem.
* Better Deal for Young Drivers (2003): To campaign for action on road safety, motor insurance for young drivers and reform of the diver education/testing system. This campaign included 20 public meetings nationwide and a local media and internet publicity drive.
* Housing Tax Campaign (2004): Nationwide petition campaign to raise awareness of the government's excessive tax take on new homes for first-time buyers.
* Talk! Campaign (2005): To raise awareness of Mental Health and Suicide
* Voter Registration Campaign (2006): To encourage Youth Participation in PoliticsProminent Members in the Dáil & Seanad
Fine Gael
TD sLeo Varadkar andLucinda Creighton are members of YFG, having also previously served on the organisation's National Executive.See also
*
The Vulcan
*Fine Gael References
External links
* [http://www.yfg.ie Young Fine Gael]
* [http://www.finegael.ie Fine Gael]
* [http://student.nuigalway.ie/~yfg/ NUI Galway Young Fine Gael]
* [http://www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~finegael DCU Young Fine Gael]
* [http://student.nuigalway.ie/~yfg NUI Galway Young Fine Gael]
* [http://www.ucc.ie/yfg UCC Young Fine Gael]
* [http://www.maynoothyfg.com NUI Maynooth Young Fine Gael]
* [http://www.ucd.ie/yfg UCD branch of Young Fine Gael]
* [http://www.freewebs.com/kerrynorth-yfg Kerry North YFG]
* [http://finegael.csn.ul.ie UL Young Fine Gael]
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