Children power came to the fore yesterday when the first Dail na nOg was held in the Mansion House in Dublin.
More than 200 children from all over the State gathered to express their views on life, school and society. Then they presented a report to the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, in the afternoon.
The seven- to 17-year-olds spoke about how they are fed up with not being treated with respect in shops; how they want to have more of a say in how their schools are run; how their views are ignored by the media; and their entitlement to proper play areas.
They debated whether the voting age should be reduced to 16; were cross that the recent Government savings scheme was limited to those over 18; and felt it was too much to be expected to carry a heavy school bag where the maths and science books alone were 1,400 pages.
The aim of the day, according to the Minister of State for Health and Children, Ms Mary Hanafin, was to give the children and young people an opportunity to express their views.
A report of the day's proceedings, which were chaired by Laura Murphy (16) from Headford in Galway and Jeffrey Rocket (14) from Limerick, will be submitted to the Cabinet Subcommittee on Children. Jeffrey said children get overlooked and need to be listened to more. "There is a stereotype that teenagers cannot be trusted and that is generally not true. Children should be given a chance to voice their opinion."
The motions debated were raised by 2,500 children who were consulted around the State. The National Children's Strategy was launched last November, with the aim of giving children a voice in matters which affect them - and "their views will be given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity".
The audience gave the Taoiseach a rock star's welcome when he entered the Round Room. Mr Ahern told them it was important to have a balance between work and leisure. He advised them to embrace change and told them he listened to as many people as possible, but usually ended up ignoring what they told him.
"You shouldn't be asked at 16 to decide what you want to be at 64, the last year before you retire . . . The only good thing I can tell you about that is that I didn't think that I was going to end up Taoiseach at 50 when I was 16, so don't worry too much."
The most important thing they were doing, he told them, was participating in democracy. "Democracy is all about people having their say. It provides us with a voice and an opportunity to influence what goes on in society. You as young people and citizens have a voice."
In his political life he always tried to listen to people's point of view. "Many times I am criticised that I listen so much to people's point of view . . . but if you believe in democracy as I do then you must listen to people's view. I don't always take their views into account, in fact I probably ignore most of what I hear to be honest, but I do listen."