FORCED EMIGRATION AND youth employment are on the agenda at this weekend’s Young People’s Assembly in Dublin.
The event, hosted by the SIPTU supported Young Workers’ Network, is open to all people under 35 years of age. The event will include discussion on future campaigns concerning the need for decent work for young people, ending forced emigration, cuts to support for those in education and the reduction in mental health services.
The assembly, organised by campaign group We’re Not Leaving is supported by a broad coalition of youth organisations including ICTU Youth, the Union of Students in Ireland and SpunOut.
Need to organise
Young Workers’ Network member, Laura McKenna, said young people need to organise in order to confront the particular pressures facing their generation. She said:
Without its young people, Ireland has no future. This is a message that needs to be delivered to those who are implementing policies which are reducing young people’s life chances and forcing many to leave the country.
“This is our country and our future, young people need to start organising to take control of our own destinies. It has become increasingly clear that the Irish establishment has little interest in assisting the majority of young people in building a decent future in Ireland,” said Rónán Burtenshaw, of the youth campaign group We’re Not Leaving.
Youth issues
The organisers said that the assembly is just the first stage in what they hope will be a major campaign to bring the issues affecting young people in Ireland to the fore.
At the assembly a charter will be drawn up that will make demands of what change is needed from the political class and also from the trade unions, NGOs and other groups.
The event will include a number of participatory workshops on issues of concern to young people followed by a general meeting where plans of action will be discussed. The assembly is scheduled to conclude at 5pm.
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