Making the News: Ireland in Pyjamas and General Election 2024

November was a busy month for the organisation, marked by the launch of our General Election proposal, First Things First, outlining solutions to address workforce challenges in Early Years and School Age Care. Meanwhile, we celebrated National Pyjama Day 2024, our annual fundraiser where children help children. During the month, Early Childhood Ireland appeared in […] The post Making the News: Ireland in Pyjamas and General Election 2024 appeared first on Early Childhood Ireland.

Dec 5, 2024 - 16:43

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Making the News: Ireland in Pyjamas and General Election 2024

November was a busy month for the organisation, marked by the launch of our General Election proposal, First Things First, outlining solutions to address workforce challenges in Early Years and School Age Care. Meanwhile, we celebrated National Pyjama Day 2024, our annual fundraiser where children help children.

During the month, Early Childhood Ireland appeared in 73 pieces of coverage across local and national print, online, and broadcast media.

First Things First

The General Election is a crucial opportunity to advocate for essential changes for Early Years and School Age Care. Despite increased investment, staffing remains the most significant challenge for most settings across the country, with an average staff turnover of 24 per cent. In our election manifesto, we called on the next government to set a date by which Early Years and School Age Care graduates will be brought within public sector pay and conditions, in line with teachers. This received widespread attention from media across Ireland, with Director of Policy, Frances Byrne, invited to appear on RTE Radio 1’s Morning Ireland, Newstalk, and Cork 96FM, among others. You can also read more about our proposal in outlets such as South East Radio, KFM, Tipperary Live and Cork Echo.

We were also pleased to see our member Evelyn Reilly from Kidz @Play in Maynooth participate in a segment on RTE’s Morning Ireland to discuss what providers need in the next Programme for Government.

Now that the votes have been cast, Early Childhood Ireland will continue working to make Early Years and School Age Care a central priority in the new Programme for Government.

Celebrating National Pyjama Day 2024

On Friday, 22 November, the day we had all been waiting for finally arrived. We were thrilled to see over 55,000 children put on their comfiest pyjamas to celebrate National Pyjama Day 2024 in their Early Years and School Age Care settings.

This much-loved annual fundraiser was featured in Louth Independent, Kildare Now, Nenagh Live, Clare FM, Dundalk Democrat, and many other outlets across the country.

We were especially happy to see our members Limerick Social Services Preschool and Horizons Montessori School in Cork sharing how they celebrated National Pyjama Day 2024 with local media.

Thank you to all our members who took part this year. National Pyjama Day has always been more than just cosy pyjamas and having fun – at its heart, it’s about children helping children.