Iconic Mural Unveiled at Trinity College at Launch of One Young World Dublin Summit

Posted on: 07 April 2014

To mark the launch of the One Young World Summit which will take place in Dublin this October, an iconic mural was unveiled by Francois Pienaar above Trinity College Dublin’s Nassau Street entrance.

One Young World attracts the brightest young leaders from across the globe to discuss how they can create positive and lasting change in their countries in areas such as Youth Unemployment, Education, Sustainable Development, and Leadership and Government. 

Francois Pienaar, One Young World Counsellor and former South African rugby captain, launched the One Young World Dublin Summit at an event in Trinity College which is an official partner of the Summit. The Provost, Dr Patrick Prendergast sits on the Summit’s advisory committee.

From 15 – 18 October 2014, Dublin will host the One Young World Summit for the first time, in what is its fifth Summit, following on from London in 2010, Zurich 2011, Pittsburgh 2012, and last year in Johannesburg.  This year’s event is expected to attract over 1,200 delegates from a record 196 countries.

Dr Patrick Prendergast, Trinity Provost, Francois Pienaar, One Young World Counsellor and former South African rugby captain, and Bob Coggins, One Young World at the unveiling of  Joe Caslin’s iconic mural 

The One Young World summits have previously attracted such names as Sir Richard Branson, Kofi Annan and Arianna Huffington as counsellors, while Bill Clinton and Winnie Mandela have also spoken at the Summit in recent years.  Their role in attending is to help advise and assist the delegates in whatever way they can to ensure their ideas for change can become a reality.

Pienaar unveiled the mural by acclaimed young Roscommon artist Joe Caslin, created in celebration of One Young World coming to Dublin.  The mural is themed “Looking for Leadership” and depicts what Caslin feels are young Irish men who have been pushed to the edges of society, who now need to be empowered and given a sense of belonging.  This is something that Caslin hopes to address at the One Young World Summit in October, for which he is seeking sponsorship as a delegate.    

Caslin works with local community youth groups and schools in disadvantaged areas to build a team for each project.  For this One Young World project at Trinity he worked with young men from the Pearse Street area and from Tullamore.  He has worked with young men across the country in creating large scale drawings and this is a continuation of his work focused on “Our Nation’s Sons”. 

The One Young World Summit bid was won by a three-strong team of young Irish people, Bob Coggins, Clara Kelleher and Valerie McGrane, competing against other world cities such as Hong Kong and Bangkok.

The Summit will take place in a range of venues across Dublin, including Trinity, the Convention Centre and Croke Park, with breakout sessions happening in venues all over the capital for the duration of the event.