IREYPAA was founded for the purpose of providing a setting for an annual celebration of sobriety in Alcoholics Anonymous with emphasis on showing how young people can get and stay sober, as well as be a vital part of AA as a whole. We also want to add that the IREYPAA convention is open to ALL that suffer from Alcoholism; we seek no separation from any part of AA. IREYPA’s primary purpose is to provide a setting where members of Alcoholics Anonymous can come together and attend workshops, panels and hear speakers carry the vital message of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, The Twelve Traditions and the Twelve Concepts of service. We welcome attendance from any member of AA. The number of young people suffering from Alcoholism who turn to AA for help is growing.
IREYPAA is and will remain committed to carrying AA’s message of recovery to alcoholics of all ages.
The annual IREYPAA convention offers the opportunity for AA members from Ireland and Abroad to join in harmonious celebration by sharing their experience, strength, and hope. AA members who attend an IREYPAA Convention often return home better prepared to give & participate in all parts of AA Service.
In the spirit of cooperation with all of AA, IREYPAA provides visible evidence that large numbers of young people are achieving a lasting and comfortable sobriety in Alcoholics Anonymous. The 12 Steps, The 12 Traditions and The 12 Concepts, are The Three Legacies of AA — Recovery, Unity & Service — and are the guiding foundations of IREYPAA as an AA event, just as they are throughout all of AA.
IREYPAA will strive to cooperate with any AA area where the annual convention is held throughout Ireland. We will also regularly contribute to the AA General Service Office, as well as to the Area Service structure in the local areas where the convention is held.
IREYPAA convention attendees are most often participants of the local service areas where the convention is held or has been held. They can often be found serving at General Service Offices or Area Service structures in the IREYPAA region. Newcomers and all members of AA are shown by people of their own ages that using AA principles in their daily lives and getting involved in AA Service can have a significant and long-lasting impact on their sobriety.
As further testament that Young Peoples’ events like IREYPAA are a part of AA as a whole, at the 1960 World AA Convention, Bill W. noted that the age of new members was much lower than when he and Dr. Bob founded AA 25 years earlier. In a letter to the International Conference of Young People in AA, dated June 15, 1969, Bill wrote “… in recent years I have found nothing for greater inspiration than the knowledge that AA of tomorrow will be safe, and certainly magnificent, in the keeping of you who are the younger generation of AA today.”
Bill W’s statement, together with a 60+ year history of Young People in AA events across the world will comfort all that IREYPAA is and will continue to carry the life-giving message of Alcoholics Anonymous.
IREYPAA: 