January Cillian Murphy shares acting and empathy learning with UNESCO Youth Researchers

The UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre co-hosted a special event Acting with Empathy, with Irish actor and Centre Patron, Cillian Murphy at the Stella Cinema in Rathmines, Dublin.   

The programme included an exclusive screening of the movie Small Things Like These distributed by Lionsgate and Big Things Films followed by a discussion with RTÉ’s John Kelly where the actor reflected on his patronage of the work on empathy with the UNESCO Centre in Galway and the importance of engaging young people in social issues.

The event was held in association with Foróige and Pennsylvania State University in the US, to highlight the on-the-ground delivery of evidence-based empathy education for adolescents in schools and in community youth work settings in Ireland. 

Commenting on how the film’s theme connects with the actor’s support for the partners’ work in promoting empathy in adolescents, Cillian Murphy said: “While the movie Small Things reflects on the plight of Irish life in the mid-1980s, its message of the need for empathy and compassion in communities has even more resonance today given the personal and social challenges young people face and endure – not least issues of prejudice, targeted hate speech and online bullying.”

The event featured a Q&A with Cillian Murphy and two Youth Researchers who work with the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre.

It also offered a unique opportunity to share with potential sponsors plans to build on established expertise in the field through the development of a transatlantic UNESCO Observatory for Youth Empathy and Engaged Citizenship co-located with Pennsylvania State University. The Observatory will provide the infrastructure that brings research evidence and implementation together for ‘real world’ application and generate evidence with and for young people. 

Ailbhe Ni Mhorain, a 6^th year student at Dominican College, Taylor’s Hill in Galway and a Youth Researcher, said: “Now more than ever, empathy education is essential so young people can truly understand each other and not at a surface level. As the voice of tomorrow, we need to be able to work together to face the challenges arising in the future.”

Matthew Shaw-Torkzadeh, Transition Year student, Newpark Comprehensive School, Dublin and also a Youth Researcher, said: "If empathy is a muscle that can be trained, the best way to do that is through connecting with and acting on behalf of those facing injustice starting with involvement in your own community."

Since 2016, a team of researchers at University of Galway have developed a concrete basis for understanding empathy, social values and civic behaviour in adolescents.

Based on active emphatic responding at interpersonal, community and societal levels, this research is enabling the development of interventions such as curriculum for secondary schools, programmes for community youth work, and policy frameworks for governments. 

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