As the MC for the European Year of Youth launch in Ireland, Harry McCann interviewed Maria Walsh MEP.

An entrepreneur says he feels like he is being 'forced out' of Ireland because of a toxic environment for younger people. Harry McCann, who is 22, says Ireland is no longer a place for young people because of several factors - aside from the pandemic. In a tweet on Wednesday, he says: "Ireland no longer feels like a place of opportunity for young people. "There are too many unnecessary challenges. For the first time yesterday, I consciously considered the idea of spending my 20's elsewhere. "Like many people my age in Ireland, I feel like I am being forced out." He also describes the level of "disrespect" shown towards young people in Ireland in the last year as "disgraceful." He told Lunchtime Live young people have become an afterthought, and are waking up to this. "I think it's quite disgraceful, to be honest - it's just another example of young people being an afterthought for the Government in recent months. "We received a huge amount of criticism and backlash when COVID was quite high... and there was accusations that we were causing the spread. "And now there's a situation where we were told for months and months that we'd stay indoor, stay safe and keep the vulnerable safe while they get vaccinated. "And now they're saying 'These people are vaccinated, we're going to let them dine inside but we're going to make you work in environments where you're not vaccinated'. "It's just another example of how young people are an afterthought for Government time and again." He says this has been the case "on a number of occasions." "It's not a great place to live for people in their 20s or 30s, Ireland is becoming very toxic environment in the sense that rents are ever-increasing, we pay the highest college fees anywhere in Europe. "To get a job is difficult enough, but to get a decent paying job that can allow you to live a sustainable life here is very, very difficult."

Entrepreneur, Harry McCann, tells Classhub how his love for STEM in secondary school inspired him to establish the Digital Youth Council. Harry also shares his advice and tips for leaving cert students. He delivers a positive and inspiring message that reminds us that it will everything will work out in the end.

Interdisciplinary STEM teaching is just entering the curricular of schools around the globe, but this subject is not only engaging and shifting traditional belief of what science is, but also encourages students to invent and tackle global problems. Harry believes that youth should be empowered and believed in to be able to create life-changing innovations already in school years, and this empowerment can be built through STEM education. Harry is an 18-year-old entrepreneur from Kildare, Ireland. At the age of 15, he founded his first business - Kid Tech. Over the space of sixteen months, he went on to teach over 800 kids to code all around Ireland. In 2014 he founded the first Digital Youth Council in the World, which he is currently Director of and since 2013 has been working with government and industry to make sure young people are influencing the future of the STEM sector in Ireland and Europe. Harry has spent the last two years working on several startup ideas and taking on advisory/board roles in the Irish government, and some of the biggest multinational businesses in the World. His most recent business venture is Trendsterpress.com which he founded in January 2016, and it is currently one of his main focus. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

In this four-part documentary series, David Puttnam, Ireland’s Digital Champion, travels around Ireland on a mission to get citizens connected, with some help along the way from Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh and others. Making Ireland Click, produced by Wildfire Films, explores the need for every citizen to be digitally literate as Ireland’s National Broadband Plan aims to deliver high speed broadband to every home in the country. Starts on Bank Holiday Monday, 31st October, on RTÉ One at 7.30pm, continuing every following Monday, until 21st November.

Harry McCann's aim is very simple - to write a future he is proud to be the author of. In this talk from Zeminar 2017 Harry spells out his vision for GenZ and the power they have at their disposal. Harry is a very young man in a very big hurry. He would love nothing more than to be the future leader of the nation and is certainly blazing a trail to match his ambition. He has already founded the world's first Digital Youth Council; been a Tedx speaker; Government Advisor; Media Pundit and Quercus scholar at University College Cork. He's been listed in the JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons in the world; the 30 under 30 and the 20 under 20 and has won several awards for his work in STEM. In May 2017, a few short days before he sat the Leaving Cert, Harry penned a letter on Twitter aimed at grabbing the attention of the Minister for Education, Richard Bruton, who is tagged in the tweet as well as Simon Coveney. As tends to happen with Harry - the letter subsequently went viral! Harry founded his first business, Kid Tech, in 2014 just after his fifteenth birthday and over the space of a year set out to 'Teach the Next Generation Tech' through short courses which he designed and created. With the backing of Stephen Fry and Blackberry he travelled across Ireland to introduce one thousand kids to computer coding. In 2015 he founded the Digital Youth Council and the model established has been replicated in countries such as the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. His work as an entrepreneur and thought leader has led him to become one of the most influential young people in STEM, education, youth affairs and the online world. As a result, he can regularly be heard speaking in the media and on stage delivering motivational and educational speeches at conferences and events across the globe. Zeminar Presents is the world's first talk series built exclusively for Generation Z and their teachers and primary care givers. Covering mental and physical well-being, equality, sexuality, education, entrepreneurship, activism, volunteering, bullying, cyber-safety, science, motivation, inspiration and so much more. In an Online World - Zeminar Connects For Zeminar 2018 see https://www.zeminar.ie Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Zeminarevent Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zeminar.ie Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zeminar.ie/ Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0pNr4XhBTffbHs0HLhltZQ

We caught up with Grainne Dwyer, CEO of the Ludgate Hub, and young tech sensation and founder of Trendster, Harry McCann, to find out more about National Digital Week in Skibbereen. #‎backedbyAIB

17 year old tech entprenuer talks to Chris Flack from UnPlug about information overload and mental health (filmed at Future Health Summit 2016). Full video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJicb6EN5AQ