Even after a very long four years of planning, delayed twice by the pandemic, the weeks in the buildup to the rural youth seminar flew by.

Macra finally played host to 24 international visitors from 5 to 12 November in An Grianán, Termonfeckin, Co Louth, headquarters of the ICA, for the 2022 autumn seminar.

The event was originally scheduled to happen in November 2020. It was actually back in 2018 that planning for the event began and, after surviving the pandemic, it proved worth the wait for the participants who attended.

The theme of the event was centred around the rights of LGBTQI+ people in rural areas and creating safe spaces for them to be themselves.

Participants came from all over Europe to take part in the week-long seminar, which included sessions during the day and cultural activities in the evenings.

The opening ceremony for the event was a sea of colour with national flags and dresses all on show. There was also an address from Macra national president John Keane, Patricija Prindule, the vice-chair of Rural Youth Europe, and Réiltín from Outcomers in Drogheda who provided much support throughout and during the buildup to the event.

The sessions were on everything from how to create a safe space to learning how to use social media and other forms of media to promote their organisations to LGBTQI+ members in a safe space.

The highlight for many of the participants came from the Living Library on the Tuesday morning. There were three guest speakers, Maria Walsh MEP; Michael Cullinane, a TikTok sensation; and Erica Coates who is a transgender farmer from Co Cork.

“Hearing the stories of the speakers really resonated with the participants. And we are really thankful to these and all the speakers we had all week. It’s not easy to share your story especially in front of a crowd of strangers,” said Shane Quigley, chair of the autumn seminar prep team.

There was also a day trip to Dublin where the participants heard from The Switchboard who offer a confidential and non-judgmental listening and support service to members of the LGBTQI+ network seven days a week. After this, they had a choice to do a tour of the Guinness or Jameson factories and a great time was had by all in attendance.

As quick as it began, it was all over though and back to a sea of colour of national dresses and flags for the closing ceremony and party afterwards.

The participants have all returned home to their own organisations with fresh ideas and motivation to help make their organisations and countries a better place to be a member of or to live in.