Northern Ireland Community Relations Council - About Us - Press Releases - 'Alienated' Young People Must be Brought into Peace Process

27 April 2010

Northern Ireland won’t make meaningful progress along the road to reconciliation without bringing young people properly into the peace process, a high level conference in Belfast will hear today (Tuesday April 27, 2010).

The flagship event of Community Relations Week at W5 in the Odyssey will outline how young people are critical to conflict transformation, but often feel alienated and blamed for problems that persist on issues around parades and protests, interface violence and other legacy issues.

Dympna McGlade, Director of Policy at the Community Relations Council, which is organising the major event in conjunction with Youthnet, says that youth workers, politicians, public bodies and communities must ensure that young people’s voices are heard and doors are opened to address their sense of alienation.

“We have a duty to support the vital role of youth work in tackling the problems of sectarianism, racism and segregation which are deeply embedded in our society.

“This is a critical time in our history and I can’t emphasise enough how important it is to ensure that Northern Ireland makes community relations youth work a very high priority.

“If we don’t bring young people into the peace process, many of them will continue to feel detached, remaining on the fringes of society and continuing to engage in sectarian and racist behaviour.

“We are pleased to have a number of young people at this event whom we will engage with to get their views on building a shared future. We want to find ways to empower them to shape the future without burdening them with the problems of the past,” Ms McGlade adds.

The subject of the policy conference, which is being delivered in partnership with Youthnet, the network for the voluntary youth sector, is Breaking Barriers through Youth Work.

Community relations issues faced by young people and youth workers will be explored and YouthAction will set the scene for debate with a powerful drama ‘Eclipse – the other side of peace’.

Paul Sweeney, Permanent Secretary at the Department of Education will contribute to the event, and local politicians will participate in a panel debate; these include Basil McCrea, UUP; Naomi Long, Alliance; Dawn Purvis, PUP; Conall McDevitt, SDLP; Jonathan Bell, DUP; and Sue Ramsey SF. Each will put forward their vision on the role of youth work in securing a more inclusive society.

The conference will make recommendations on how to forge a way ahead based on the views of young people and the experiences of youth workers.

Michael Wardlow, Chairman of Youthnet, welcomed the focus on the youth sector and stressed the need for continued support: “The work of the youth sector in community relations is vital if we are to build a cohesive and shared society and I look forward to the conference recommendations.”

Community Relations Week is organised by the Community Relations Council and includes over 150 events run by local councils, public bodies and community and voluntary sector organisations.

For further information

Contact Ray Mullan 90-227500