Sport for Business is honoured to be hosting ‘The Sporting Life’ a session for delegates to the One Young World Conference in Dublin this week.
Last night the opening ceremony took place at the Convention Centre in Dublin and it was an exhilarating occasion to be part of.
Representatives of 194 countries are taking part. Russia alongside Ukraine, Palestine alongside Israel and most stunningly, side by side as they brought their flags to the stage before departing hand in hand, North and South Korea.
This is a special event and here is the One Young World review of what happened on the opening night
Most people don’t get the once in a lifetime opportunity to spend their Wednesday evening listening to Bob Geldof verbally shake more over a thousand people down and remind them that all is definitely not right with the world. It was the opening ceremony of the One Young World Summit 2014, more than 180 countries had placed their flags on stage and the atmosphere in the Convention Centre Dublin was electric. Welcome to the world of One Young World.
As Ryan Tubridy took the stage, he reminded us that having risen from the recession, Dublin supplied the perfect location for the One Young World Summit, which is designed to motivate incredible people from the world’s richest, poorest, most powerful and most troubled nations to quite literally, change the world.
The five different uniforms comprising the Ballymun Children’s Choir, who then took the stage, were a sparkling example of the power of youth a lot closer to home. Music director David Brophy shared the incredible tale of how by starting ‘breakfast clubs’ to make sure the kids had an adequate meal, he was able to then teach them how to sing. Even more astoundingly, some of the lyrics from the songs which they performed were written by the children themselves.
Cut to a video message from Michael D. Higgins in which he reminded us that Ireland has the youngest working population in Europe, and is a place where “moulds will be broken”. “Be the arrow not the target,” he reminded the thousands of young leaders watching below.
An Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who first entered the Dail at the age of 24, reminded delegates and audience members alike that international connection is key: “Human necessity to connect with people where they are not where you want them to be. The future is the only place we all have to live.” The Irish labour force in particular, he labelled “the most adaptable in the world” but claimed the unemployment rate in Europe was “intolerable”.
As each flag from the 194 different delegate countries were proudly waved from various points around the conference hall and laid on the stage, a giant Irish flag was passed down audience members in the upper tiers while a blue One Young World was passed underneath. Particularly enthusiastic roars were heard for African countries such as Uganda and Nigeria.
A startling round-up of what One Young World Ambassadors have achieved flashed across the screen. The doors of the first rape crisis centre in Somalia had been opened. The United States had launched “week in a wheelchair” to highlight the daily challenges the disabled community face. Some Ambassadors, they reminded us, could not be named to protect their own safety but continued to work hard in areas affected by conflict and unrest.
When Ryan Sheridan took the stage to sing, “so this is your world, what are you gonna do about it?” it couldn’t help to carry heavy meaning to the thousands of ears which heard it. Shortly after, a spontaneous but utterly warranted standing ovation broke out for Ireland’s first female president Mary Robinson and “rebel with a cause and campaigner for all that is good” Bob Geldof.
His speech was riling. “There is too much wrong. What are we doing about Sierra Leone? A country just beginning to breathe and because they’re poor, they die. They are not dying of Ebola. They are dying because they do not have the access to doctors and healthcare as they do in Texas. I don’t like that.”
The room instantly erupted in applause.
He insisted that Mark Pollock, the first blind man to reach the South Pole’s speak would make for essential listening: “Listen to Mark Pollock when he speaks to you on Saturday, he is a man who knows the best how to pull things down and start rebuilding it all again.”
His departing words were simple, and echoed through the auditorium.
“Our time is gone. If you don’t do it, there’s a problem.”
If One Young World’s opening ceremony is anything to go by, the Summit looks to be a vital discussion of the world’s many diverging problems that we still need to overcome.
You can watch the conference live at www.oneyoungworld.com
