It’s Fun To Stay At The ITAV

It’s a matter of principals… FRI21MAR25

he main reason half the town gathered at The Whale this morning was both to mark It Takes A Village’s 2nd birthday and to unveil Dr Mags Crean’s year-long research paper into their good work, but GG had an ulterior motive.

Our plan was to get local-lad-done-very-good Simon Harris on video.

Simply saying, “No comment“.

Which we could then use for our latest feature on the Greystones Media Campus’ failure to launch, the non-arrival of that hotel down by the South Beach, or the distinct lack of government action when it comes to buying that big chunk of Bellevue Woods currently on the market as a thank you for all that lovely housing development moolah we’ve unwilling delivered.

Sadly, time was on no one’s side this morning, as there was much to mull over, as six of the school’s eight primary school principals gathered to mark two years since their It Takes A Village initiative was launched. An initiative all about making sure our young kids have a healthy and happy life, whether it’s introducing a timetable for those daily smart phone dives or employing some play therapists to give them a room – and some room – to breathe in an increasingly confusing, confrontational and rapidly-changing technological world.

Alongside our beloved Tánaiste and various behind-the-scenes shakers and makers at ITAV were school kids from across the town, impacted parents, MC Anna Daly, and just about every photographer and media outlet within a 10-mile radius. It’s always good to compare lens every now and then.

At the centre of it all was Dr Mags Crean’s research paper into the work done over the past two years by It Takes A Village, from that initial call for smarter smart phones use to the rise in mental health issues for our younger kids. You can explore that paper in full right here.

“This initiative began as a simple idea around a kitchen table,” says ITAV founder Rachel Harper, “sparked by a shared concern amongst a few people in the community about the increasing levels of anxiety in our children…”

That this community-wide movement should rapidly spread nationally and then internationally took everyone here this morning by surprise.

“The research we launch today is not just about measuring our progress; it is about demonstrating that grassroots action can lead to systematic transformation. The evaluation led by Dr. Mags Crean is a critical moment in our journey.”

You can find out more about that journey here, check out the 71-page research paper here, and get in touch with It Takes A Village on email here.

And kudos to Harris for calling out prize pig Conor McGregor, Ireland’s very own Andrew Tayto.

On a brighter note, a little Disney magic from the East Coast Academy Drama School to start off this morning’s proceedings…