Thousands of young people are today showcasing their plans to tackle key social issues affecting their environment at the Royal Dublin Society.
More than 2,500 students from all over the country are attending the Young Social Innovators Showcase which takes place over the next two days..
Some 200 of the 400 projects from this year's YSI programme are on display at the event, which was opened by President Mary McAleese this morning.
Around 6,000 young people took part in the scheme, which was created to develop social awareness and activism amongst young people.
The short-listed projects offer proposals for solutions on a wide variety of social issues including suicide, domestic violence, youth facilities, social inclusion and poverty.
Speaking at the opening of the showcase today, the President congratulated all of those who took part in the scheme.
"To be a social innovator at any age is to be an architect of decency, of fairness, of equality, of good neighbourliness; to be a person who sees gaps in our care for one another and to be someone who does not wait for someone else to fill the gap," said Mrs McAleese.
"The ambition we have for ourselves we also have for our very unequal world. There is no shortcut
to that world, only a tough and uncompromising journey made by people who stand solidly for the very best of values, people who dare to care. YSI has produced an army of them," she added.
The winner of the Young Social Innovator of the Year award will be announced tomorrow night.