Better Together: Supporting OUR Generation

Co-operation Ireland presented a special autumn conference for key youth workers at the Monaghan Peace Campus on Thursday 16th October 2025.

‘Better Together: Supporting OUR Generation’ brought together  over 100 youth workers from across Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland, to explore many of the issues that young people are facing today.

This one-day shared learning event offered a valuable opportunity for professionals to share insights, network and collaborate, and hear from expert speakers in the fields of youth mental health and wellbeing.

The conference featured an outstanding line-up of speakers, including Shane Martin: a psychologist, bestselling author, and founder of Moodwatchers; Richard Hogan, a leading family psychotherapist, author of Parenting the Screenager; and Owen O’Kane, one of the UK’s leading psychotherapists and a Sunday Times bestselling author.

Through their talks, each speaker addressed many of the challenges affecting young people and explored themes such as resilience, anxiety and technology.

The conference also included interactive workshops on topics such as trauma-informed practice delivered by the OUR Generation research team from Ulster University,

Other workshops included emotional regulation through creative mindfulness with Olive Houston from Mind Yourself, responding to racism and cross-cultural understanding with Donegal Intercultural Platform, and using sport to promote mental health with T.A.M.H.I.