BEST COMMUNITY YOUTH CENTRE FINALIST - Glór na Móna

Your Name: Emma Ní Mhuireagáin

Your Organisation/Company: Glór Na Móna

Your Website: https://www.glornamona.com

Your favourite thing about West Belfast: Pobal | Community

Your First Job: My first job believe it or not was a youth work volunteer with Glór Na Móna at 15!

What it taught you? That there's value in community and helping others, that young people are the backbone of our community, they grow up to become the future of West Belfast and deserve to be invested in. It taught me also, that hard work and dedication pays off and that the Irish Language is flourishing across Belfast especially in our youth.

What do you think are the key ingredients needed to make a person or organisation the Best of the West?  Understanding, commitment and hope. - These 3 elements blended together encapsulate the Irish Language Sector in West Belfast, our small corner of the world is misunderstood and when you dedicate yourself to improving our community you can see the real beauty in it.

Glór na Móna has led Irish-medium youth work in Belfast since 2009, supporting hundreds of young people. Its youth club, Cumann Óige Uachtar Chluanaí, was the first of its kind recognised by the Education Authority. Based in Ballymurphy, it open four nights a week, alongside bespoke youth provision: Sólás na nÓg offers inclusive Irish-language youth education for young people with additional needs.