There is nothing easy about growing up in Ireland today. The pressures that impinge on contemporary youth here, as elsewhere, can be breathtaking in their range, complex in their form and, at times, devastating in their impact. Yet in acknowledging the problems of the present, there is little justification for indulging a sentimentalised view of the past: the reality of Irish adolescent experience has never been anything other than difficult.

For fifty years now, against a backdrop of sometimes dizzying social change, Foróige has been to the fore in promoting an enlightened approach to youth development, pioneering a set of core informal educational principles and seeking, in a variety of innovative ways, to ensure their wide application, particularly among those on the margins of society. Working originally through a network of school-based voluntary clubs, and later, through a more community-based voluntary system and professionally-delivered youth services, Foróige has addressed itself to the challenges faced by Irish teenagers, its work underpinned by a philosophy based on the dignity and creativity of each individual, its volunteers and staff driven by a belief in human growth and potential.