The Celebrations of Girl Talk Anna Lee Dowling On 29th October 2020, I had the pleasure of accepting a Garda National Youth Award on behalf of Girl Talk. We won an award under the Community Safety category. We were the only award winners from Laois this year.
The Garda Youth Awards, at Divisional and National level, celebrates outstanding young people aged between 13 and 21 years, and recognises the good work they are doing throughout their communities. The first ever Garda Divisional Youth Awards was created by a local Juvenile Liaison Officer in West Cork in 1995. He noticed that the young people in the community were doing
tremendous things which deserved recognition. The awards has grown in leaps and bounds since then. In 2019, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris launched the first ever An Garda Síochána National Youth Awards saying “The inaugural Garda National Youth Awards will be a showcase for the positive contribution young people are making in their communities. The awards at national and divisional level are a great way for Gardaí to develop strong relationships with community groups and young people in their area.” This year the ceremony took place online. We were first welcomed by Cork Gaelic Footballer and Garda Tony Davis. Garda Commissioner
