A YOUNG west Belfast woman has become the first person from Northern Ireland to be appointed a youth delegate to the United Nations.
Tara Grace Connolly, who is originally from the Stewartstown Road area, will assist the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in a year that Ireland has been elected to the UN Security Council.
The 22-year-old law graduate, who has just completed her Masters’ degree in International Relations at Queen’s University Belfast, said it was "a real privilege to be the first person from the north to be picked for this role".
Ms Connolly, who attended Assumption Grammar School in Ballynahinch, added: "I got the confirmation at the beginning of September and had to keep the secret for three weeks until it was formally announced by the Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney".
A former chairwoman of the Northern Ireland Youth Forum and the Belfast Youth Forum, she is also a graduate of the Washington Ireland Program Class of 2017.
The Belfast woman and her fellow delegate, Conn McCarrick from Dublin, will spend the year working with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Mission to the UN to represent the views of young people.
Speaking after a virtual meeting with the two delegates, Mr Coveney, said their contribution "whether virtual or in person, will be vital over the coming year in ensuring that young people are represented in Ireland’s engagement at the UN".
"As Ireland prepares to take its seat on the UN Security Council in January 2021, they will also play an important role in building awareness of the work of the UN and the role Ireland plays on the global stage," he said.
