Kildare young people elected president and vice president of Ógra Áontú
John Byran from Derrinturn was elected President of Ógra Áontú and Kilcullen's Mellissa Byrne was elected as Vice President
19 year-old John Byran from Derrinturn has been elected as President of Ógra Áontú. He was unanimously elected to take over the high-profile role at his party’s recent Ard Fheis in Maynooth.
His elevation to President comes less than a year after he joined the party after which he was quickly elected to the National Officers Board. Byran was instrumental in drafting the Constitution of the group, working with his fellow members, who number some 200, to make it a working and transparent document.
During his speech he said, “This is a privilege and an honour, and I am now in position where I can honour my commitment to truly build a strong and united Ógra Aontú. We have a dedicated group of young people, teeming with commitment, competence and creativity. We have it in our power to determine what our country can and should be, we need only to rally the youth of today to our cause .Ográ Aontú is only the beginning . With strong leadership, an aspirational and united vision and most importantly, the heart and help of young women and men, there will be no limit to the greatness we can achieve”.
Kilcullen woman, Mellissa Byrne, was elected as Vice President. The 24-year-old Graduate is heavily involved in Students for Life, Human Rights and is an active community worker. She is running for Aontú in the upcoming Local Elections on the June 7 in the Newbridge LEA.
Ográ Aontú is the young wing of Aontú and is actively involved in homeless outreach, providing food , clothes, support and friendship to the many homeless in several counties across the country as well as several other community initiatives .