Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement díospóireacht -
Thursday, 15 Feb 2024

Key Issues Affecting Youth: North South Youth Forum

An Cathaoirleach

Our young guests have a tour booked for 11 a.m., so we will try to do our public business first. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Second, the clerk to the committee proposes eight minutes per group. If we want to go over that, that is fine, but we will start with that anyway. The rotation will be Fine Gael, Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil, Alliance, Independent, Sinn Féin, SDLP and so on. Do we agree that rota? Agreed. I note we have members online as well.

I ask anybody who has a mobile phone to please put it on silent or airplane mode because it may interfere with the communications or recording equipment. I have mine on airplane mode.

It is great to have so many young people here. I was a teacher for many years. I always enjoyed listening and learning from the views of young people. The North South Youth Forum representatives are very welcome. You will be taking over this island soon enough. It is great you are coming here with your colleagues to address us. You are very welcome. I want you to be completely relaxed. We will test your opinions in a friendly and appropriate way. It is great to see you here. It is the first time we have had a full Gallery. The voice of young people North-South is the voice of the future. Your thoughts and views are hugely important to us.

I have to do a couple of little things before we start, if I may. I welcome Claire Ní hUisceith. Is dóigh liom gur sin an leagan ceart. I also welcome Eve Lindsay, Hannah Morton, Sarah Whelan, Eric O’Connell and Cohen Taylor. I thank them for their attendance.

I have to read this parliamentary privilege note. We have to read it to every group that comes in. It is not personal; it applies to everybody. There are limitations in parliamentary privilege and the practice of the Houses as regards references witnesses may make to other persons in their evidence. The evidence of witnesses physically present or who give evidence from within the parliamentary precincts is protected pursuant to both the Constitution and statute by absolute privilege. However, witnesses and participants who are to give evidence from a location outside the parliamentary precincts are asked to note that they may not benefit from the same level of immunity from legal proceedings as a witness giving evidence from within the parliamentary precincts does and may consider it appropriate to take legal advice on this matter. Witnesses are asked to note that only evidence connected with the subject matter of the proceedings should be given and should respect directions given by the Chair. Witnesses should respect parliamentary practice to the effect, where possible, they should neither criticise nor make charges against any persons, person or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable or otherwise engage in speech might be regarded as damaging to the person’s or entity’s good name.

Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that we should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the Houses or an official either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

Iarraim ar Claire tús a chur leis an díospóireacht.

Ms Claire Ní hUisceith

On behalf of the North South Youth Forum, I thank the committee for the invitation to present today. My pronouns are she-her. I am a member of the North South Youth Forum’s Northern group as well as an executive committee member at Northern Ireland Youth Forum, NIYF. For our presentation, I will begin with an introduction to our project and I will be followed by Eve from Dublin, Hannah and Sarah from Louth, Eric from Galway and finally, Cohen, who is also from the Northern group.

We are delighted to be here as we believe youth engagement with government and decision-makers is important. It creates a platform between those who have power and those who sometimes feel they do not. We want decision-makers to act on young people’s right to be heard and involve them when making decisions and writing policies that affect our lives.

The North South Youth Forum is a youth-led programme connecting young people across the island of Ireland with a focus on peacebuilding and promoting youth voice. It engages with decision-makers and politicians to allow young people to have their say and voices heard on issues facing them. The programme does this by creating a platform for young people to discuss the issues they and people in their communities face.

This was established in 2012 by the Northern Ireland Youth Forum. In 2021, NIYF received funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and during this programme we hosted four “Have your say" days across the island - in the North, Galway, Louth and Cork. These events gathered young people’s views and opinions and, following these events, we worked together to create a key asks document, which members will have received in advance of our meeting today.

Our 2023-24 group came together from NIYF, Ballymun Regional Youth Resource, Youth Work Ireland Louth and Youth Work Ireland Galway to continue this work, which includes training on young people’s rights, democracy and lobbying and developing our understanding as a group of the unique history we have on this island. Members will hear directly from the young people representing the four groups.

As members will have seen from our briefing presentation, each of the groups has come up with their own briefing papers, which include an introduction to their organisations, key topics and asks they have focused on as part of the North South Youth Forum and a key ask that we would like the committee to act on. Dublin's key topic is regeneration, Louth’s key topic is lack of services, Galway's key topic is misinformation and disinformation and the North’s is political instability.

I will now pass on to Eve, who is representing Ballymun Regional Youth Resource in Dublin.

Ms Eve Lindsay

My pronouns are she-her and I am speaking about the redevelopment of Ballymun. Ballymun Regional Youth Resource, BRYR, is a service operating in the community of Ballymun, working with young people aged ten to 24 and providing ongoing support in their personal development through relationship-focused approaches.

BRYR’s vision is one where all young people in Ballymun are able to have a wide range of positive experiences that support their true sense of identity, realise their potential and participate as full and active citizens in a secure and peaceful society; know their rights and have these rights protected and promoted; understand their responsibilities to self and others; know that they are valued, understood and involved; and feel safe and supported. Having engaged in this programme, we have been glad to learn and have a better understanding of the challenges and complexities faced by young people across communities and across borders.

As part of our research, we looked at the social regeneration of Ballymun. We now understand promises were made to the community that included investment in housing, leisure and amenities, and community, and the redevelopment of a shopping centre on a now vacant plot of land.

These promises were made over many years and politicians have continuously pushed back these developments and have not followed through on the promises or commitments made to the people of Ballymun. We now believe the key to building on North-South relationships is investment in young people and in our areas. It is through this investment that young people’s basic needs can be met and following this, they can begin to develop relationships with others, such as between North and South.

Our key requests to the committee are to encourage investment in the Ballymun area and to follow through on promises made to the community. Children, young people and adults from the community should be put at the heart of the process and their voices should be heard as this will promote ownership and pride in future development and investment. It is with this investment that we can develop the young people in our community further and engage further in cross-Border initiatives on leadership, peacebuilding and good relations, like the North-South Youth Forum.

I thank committee members for taking the time to listen to me and my group's research to date. As part of this process, we have been meeting weekly in Ballymun Regional Youth Resource, BRYR, and engaging with the other groups as part of the North-South Youth Forum, which has been a lovely experience. I will now pass to Hannah and Sara from Louth.

Ms Sarah Whelan

My name is Sarah and my pronouns are she-her.

Ms Hannah Morton

My name is Hannah and my pronouns are she-her.

Ms Sarah Whelan

I stand before the esteemed members of the committee and fellow young advocates as a representative of the young people in our community. We are a resilient and passionate group but we often find ourselves overlooked when vital services are being rolled out. Our voices matter and it is time to amplify them.

Let me paint a picture of our reality. Our neighbouring community, Cox'’s Demesne, enjoys a community house and full-time youth services. Its transport options are well-timetabled, seamlessly connecting it to the resources it needs. What about us? Our area remains far away from essential amenities like shops, leaving us isolated and underserved. Our local football AstroTurf pitch, once a hub of activity, was recently sacrificed to make way for the new Smyths Toys distribution centre. While progress is essential, it should not come at the cost of our recreational spaces. We gather once a week in a crèche, grateful, but aware that it falls short of our aspirations.

Ms Hannah Morton

We yearn for a space we can truly call our own, a haven where we can access information tailored to our age group. Imagine a place where we can find signposts to mental health services, employment opportunities and vital support networks and is a space that nurtures our growth and well-being.

I will turn to the wider impact of public transport. Our plea extends beyond our generation. The need for better public transport affects everyone. It is about accessibility, connectivity and environmental responsibility. When we improve transport options, we uplift entire communities. I ask our dear leaders to let us collaborate and to create a dedicated youth centre that will be a beacon of empowerment and a place where our dreams can take root and where we can learn, connect, and thrive. Let us invest in our future, recognising that better services for young people benefit us all. I thank members for listening and suggest that we work together to build a brighter tomorrow where no young person feels overlooked or left behind.

I will now pass to Eric from Galway.

Mr. Eric O'Connell

Good morning. I am Eric from Galway, my pronouns are he-him and I am here on behalf of the Galway group of the North South Youth Forum. It is an absolute honour to be here this morning to share our findings and requests with the committee.

We are all aware of how massive a threat disinformation, and consequently misinformation, are. According to a UNICEF survey performed in ten countries, up to 75% of young people do not feel they have the confidence or skills to properly vet the information they are being given. This not only has an effect on their world view and how they go on to make decisions, but also on their relationships and mental well-being. The urgency of addressing this, as well as input from more than 100 young people from our Have Your Say Day is what brought us to the decision to address this and make it our request.

Living a fulfilling and complete life as an active citizen, an informed decision-maker and, most important, a peer, necessitates a critical mind. It is easy to take for granted that this skill is becoming infinitely harder to hone. There is a quantity of information available today that would have been unthinkable half a century ago. It is no wonder that young people are struggling to keep up. We have seen how much hatred can warp and escalate and that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, but those sentiments mean little if you do not know the history, or worse, are being given a false account. It is rare in the Republic of Ireland, that a young person would have full, or even good, understanding of the history, politics and lived experiences of the young people of Northern Ireland. This leads to what is platformed being their main sources on the matter and more often than not, that information has an agenda other than education.

Peer-to-peer communication becomes important here and realising that even if we are different in ten ways, we are similar in 100. Sharing the experiences and knowledge of Northern Irish young people is a powerful way to engage young people in the Republic and this can be followed up, in an ideal world, with trustworthy, unbiased information to broaden their understanding of subjects like the Troubles and the Good Friday Agreement that paved the way for peace in its aftermath.

All that being said, our request is for a toolkit to be developed for youth workers and educators to provide young people with the tools they need to navigate our information dense world responsibly, with a critical mind and to extend understanding of the political sphere they inhabit. This could help to quell anxieties, build healthy and constructive cross-Border relationships and give the next generation the confidence and information to have their voices heard.

I thank the committee and now pass to Cohen from Northern Ireland for our final remarks.

Mr. Cohen Taylor

Good morning committee members. I will begin by thanking the committee for allowing us to speak today. My name is Cohen Taylor, my pronouns are he-him and I have the privilege of serving as the chairperson of the Northern Ireland Youth Forum.

The Belfast-Good Friday Agreement has provided us with relative peace, hope and the opportunity for a better future. Its potential, however, is yet to be fully realised. Political instability and uncertainty has caused a backlog of decision-making which, alongside financial instability, has resulted in many young people feeling alienated from politics in Northern Ireland. I was one of the 8% of young people able to attend an integrated school, which in a largely segregated system, allows for children of different abilities, genders and religions to be taught together in the same classroom. The agreement pledges to encourage integrated education and shared housing, but more needs to be done to meet the growing demand of the 77% of parents who, according to a recent poll, want their children to be educated together with the hope that those children will then have the chance to get the bus home together to a shared, safe and prosperous community and furthermore, to a community where the 15,000 households who presented as homeless last year will have a secure roof over their heads and the support they need. Transgenerational trauma feeds into the worrying statistic that more people have committed suicide since the end of the Troubles than those who died as a result of the conflict throughout the Troubles. Record numbers of young people are on waiting lists to see mental health professionals, while services struggle to meet growing demand. The agreement has given us much but young people need more action and delivery to make Northern Ireland a better place for us all to grow up and live in.

As members will see from the briefing paper, we are making an overall request of the committee today. We ask that it write to the relevant Departments, encouraging them to fund the establishment of a mechanism for long-term, meaningful engagement with young people in order that the potential of the agreement can be fully realised. We must ensure that young people are at the heart of decision-making and feel empowered by our politics. This must happen within Northern Ireland, but also North-South and east-west.

I thank the committee. We would welcome any questions members may have and we will certainly try our best to answer them.

An Cathaoirleach

I thank the witnesses for their thoughtful and considered contributions on the challenges they face in their daily lives and our accountability to them and responsibility to take on board the points they made and act on them. I will explain what will happen now. I will go around the different parties present. There is a clock, not for the witnesses, but for committee members. I never interrupt them anyway, as they are aware. Each member has eight minutes and we will start with Fine Gael. I call Deputy Feighan.

Deputy Frankie Feighan

It is a great honour and pleasure to have the witnesses here today. It is great to see young people having a huge interest in politics and the way our countries work. This is the future. When I was growing up, I wished there were forums like this. I am not sure I would have been allowed to be on them, but I am delighted to see the witnesses have an interest. It is important that they work with decision-makers because they are the voice of young people. Sometimes in politics and in life we are so busy that this forum, these ideas and that voice are needed. That voice is very welcome, especially - it is part of the brief - as modern day communications are more important now than ever. When we make decisions and write policies, we want the views of the witnesses on board.

I will look at three different areas. I was in Ballymun. I was the Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy, and health and well-being. We had some very good engagement. I recognise the witnesses' issues. A lot of promises were made over the years. I am not sure whether we can deal with them here but those promises need to be delivered. Did the witnesses meet their local council members or local Members of the Oireachtas? It is something but those promises should be kept.

Regarding the witnesses' comment that their Astroturf football pitch was once a hub of activity but was sacrificed, could they try to get the local authority to find out whether any other land is available? I would advise the witnesses to go through their politicians. I understand that there is a good TD here from Louth. I will leave it at that.

The area in which I am really interested is disinformation. It is a significant issue. The witnesses brought me back to my past. I recall how when people wanted information, they went to their local library and ordered a book. It came in a week later but now it is with them in the space of seconds. Some 30 or 40 years ago, I never thought this would be available but it is there now and is a significant asset, resource and opportunity but there are issues. We must make sure that we work together so that there is a quality of information. People are struggling to keep up, which is why the Government is trying to fund local newspapers and local radio stations and the national media. I think a lot of people agree with this. They are trusted sources of information. They can challenge but people need a trusted source of information and we need to do a lot more.

I am a big supporter of integrated education. My good friend, the late Baroness May Blood, was very involved in integrated education. I visited Strangford and Hazelwood so I was a great supporter. Education in Northern Ireland is very good across the board but I have a soft spot for integrated education.

It is great to see Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland coming together along with east and west because even we as politicians are so busy. We have an event in Stormont next Thursday. If some of the witnesses want to attend they are more than welcome to come along next Thursday at 12.30 p.m. We bring politicians, business leaders and members of the committee together. It is really just about getting together. A total of 22 or 23 Members from the Houses of the Oireachtas are going to it but we will not have that full engagement unless someone is a member of this committee or the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. The willingness is there on both sides to work together. One of the two major projects on the island of Ireland that have brought more people from the South up North and from the North down South is Titanic Belfast. People say, "Well I went to the North. I went to Belfast". When people ask them where they went to in Belfast, they say, "I went to Titanic". The other one is Tayto Park. What is it called now?

An Cathaoirleach

Emerald Park.

Deputy Frankie Feighan

Sometimes it is little things like that are very important. We need to break down those barriers. A former leader of my party, John Bruton, passed away last Saturday. He was very respected. It was wonderful to see the First Minister and the deputy First Minister along with the leaders of parties coming to pay their respects because it meant a lot to my party and politicians across the country. We need to do an awful lot more of that. That is something we want to put on record. We give out about politicians but it is great to see Stormont up and running again and it is great to have North-South and east-west co-operation.

Mr. Chris Hazzard

I thank the young people presenting today. I found it very useful, even looking through the briefing papers and the manifesto for change they provided. I know from dealing with this organisation and similar organisations during my time as an MLA in Stormont that it has always been very useful and my eyes were opened. It has been the same today.

I have a few questions about engagement. A key theme of what witnesses from the forum spoke about today and the briefing papers is an ask around engagement - that young people are entitled to a better process of engagement. I agree with this. My party and I certainly agree with the idea of having the vote at 16 years and engaging 16- and 17-year-olds in that process for electoral change is hugely important along with giving them a say in the design of services and everything else involved in their lives. I certainly agree with that. What else can we do to better engage young people? Is it youth assemblies and youth councils? Is it the actual consultation process that departments very often go through? The briefing paper asked for the establishment of a mechanism for long-term and meaningful engagement. What does that look like? Do the witnesses from the forum have any ideas about what government departments or public services need to do to meet that? What would that mechanism for long-term and meaningful engagement look like?

The witnesses from the forum also mentioned that they would like to see enhanced North-South relations. Again, could they give us some idea of what this might look like? Is it structured through government or something that happens more organically in the public area? What would enhanced North-South relations look like? I have long held that while the North-South Ministerial Council has been a very productive and important mechanism as part of the Good Friday Agreement and the institutions that came out of that, we need to enhance it and look at the different areas of responsibility such as the inclusion of young people in some of the areas it looks at. Again, it is great to hear different voices from across our island. I wish them every success in what they are doing. Again, they should continue to engage at every level.

Mr. Cohen Taylor

With regard to engagement, the youth assembly, other structures like that and statutory consultation responsibilities for engagement with young people, those different mechanisms have a role but the most important part of our ask is the meaningful part, not that those mechanisms are not meaningful. Embedding youth work within those engagement mechanisms makes them a lot more meaningful because it cannot just be about providing a space for young people who could respond to a consultation or who could sit in the youth assembly or the youth parliament. It has to be about building the capacity of young people from a range of different backgrounds and communities through youth work processes to engage. A good example of that is the model for the North South Youth Forum and the work of the Shared Island Youth Forum, which created a consortium approach to youth work.

The youth parliament also has youth workers involved in that process. I believe embedding youth work methodology, in respect of engagement mechanisms across the board, is very important. Also, with regard to the question about North-South relations, that feeds into it because whether you are talking about North-South relations, community relations inside Northern Ireland or east-west work, it is always the same. In order to have quality outcomes from those consultations and from that work, young people need to be allowed space to develop their knowledge and opinions about Northern Ireland, about the Republic and about the UK because a lot of the time, depending on where young people are from, that will be their lived experience and their perspective. In order for them to come to a space like this that they are not familiar with, they need to have that capacity building. That knowledge needs to be built first to empower them to do that effectively.

An Cathaoirleach

Would anyone else like to comment?

Mr Chris Hazzard

Chair, can I ask a supplementary question? I agree with that last comment. Can I ask about ideas on the meaningful engagement piece? Perhaps the more challenging aspect is that elected representatives will engage with schools and do different events with young people. They will go into a room to have a discussion and often, one or two people will engage very proactively. You can see their open and bright minds that maybe are politically engaged and they are safe in that space. However, often the majority of the class or group are not. I ask for ideas on how can public bodies and government engage better. If it is not through direct conversation, is there something we are not doing correctly to empower the voices of young people? If not through that open space or through a formal consultation process, we need to empower that generation of young people coming through. What is the toolkit for doing that? How does government do that more effectively? I often find that while one or two people will engage, the majority will not. They may have some fantastic ideas and you know it and can see it. These are leaders in all of their different fields, including education and everything else but when it comes to engagement with the political class for want of a better phrase, sometimes it is very challenging. I would like to get young people's ideas about how we can do that better.

Mr. Cohen Taylor

On that meaningful engagement, it might be worth telling the committee a bit more about myself. I came to the Northern Ireland Youth Forum at the age of 16. I was extremely shy and self-conscious and did not have very much belief that my ideas or how I thought about politics was all that important. The youth work process and that work I was taken on through, as happens across so many organisations across the world, was what empowered me to able to sit in an arena like this today and be able to contribute. Our youth work practices are underpinned by participation models and in particular by the Lundy model, which the committee might be familiar with. Therefore that idea of not creating spaces that are tokenistic for young people but of actually empowering these young people to be actively part of a process and to be able to see the results of a consultation, is valid.

Whenever there is engagement with young people, a politician might then act on that advice but might forget to email or contact the young person afterwards to say this is what he or she has done and this is how the politician has acted on the feedback given. A lot of the time it is not about politicians not doing things but is about a breakdown in communication. That is why it has to be a long-term thing. It has to be meaningful in terms of being honest with young people about what can be achieved but also going that extra mile to try to act in the ways that legislators and politicians can make a difference, as well as communicating that to the young people. Regardless of where a young person starts, the right youth work approach, the right people around them and the right type of political education, as well as education more generally and hearing other perspectives in their educational environment, can have a real impact on them and empower them.

Senator Niall Blaney

I thank the Chairman. I also thank Ms Ní hUisceith, Ms Lindsay, Ms Morton, Ms Whelan, Mr. O'Connell and Mr. Taylor very much for their presentations here today. It is fantastic to come in here to a full house. A lot of the time, particularly during Covid, we would be in here talking to a screen. It is good to have the witnesses here in person and moreover to hear their views. It is very important that we have these discussions.

Can I first say that young people need to be their own representatives on local issues. Do not underestimate the power of young people as a group. As regards the local issues in Ballymun and Louth, we are in an election year as the Chair is aware. I would say, when these young people go back to their own counties, they should not underestimate their power to call a local meeting and to call on all the parties, local election candidates, TDs and Senators and to bring the issues that they want to the floor. They can ask what they are going to do to deliver for them. They have a powerful voice in the forum in which they are sitting and that will be respected when they do call a local meeting. I hope that those that are behind them and have stood for them will help them to do that. That is really how to get these things done. As politicians, we do this meeting with groups like this yearly. There are funds for youth groups, whether they ask for pitches or community centres that are being delivered on a yearly basis. There are great funds. The Minister for sport is about to deliver the next round of a multi-million euro fund across the country.

Those issues have to be delivered locally and this is probably not the forum for it, so I hope that is useful. I agree with Mr. O'Connell n relation to the misinformation. I suppose that is a world challenge. We are in a very difficult time in the world. There is so much turmoil and there is no way to know which way it is all going to go next. There is so much misinformation and recklessness by some world leaders that you would expect so much more of. It is a really trying time.

A lot of people refer to the big, bad Internet, which is so dangerous. We did not have that power when we were the witnesses' age. As parents, we did not have to worry about what young people had access to. What I find as a father to three teenagers is that while we had so many worries at the beginning, we now realise how much more developed they are compared with how I was at their age. They have much more skill and ability to cope with this information. Irish teenagers and young adolescents are more developed. That is what we forget as politicians.

The voices of young people are not being heard and I welcome the North-South approach, because politicians over the years have suffered and society has suffered because we do not trust one another. The witnesses came in here naturally trusting one another. There is no word of Protestant versus Catholic, the DUP versus Sinn Féin or Border polls; it is about society moving on. It is about people moving on and people trying to make the best opportunities for themselves and their communities in life. That is where the focus needs to be. It is really a breath of fresh air to meet a group like this. They do not come here with agendas. That is not the case with adults, who are meant to be much more grown up about these things. That is what is fresh about these witnesses coming into the room. They must use their voices and travel as much as they can North and South because I think the next generation will be the generation that makes this island move on by exploring one another's differences, learning from one another and learning to live with one another. A Border poll will not be needed, it will happen automatically. We will learn that together we can achieve much more than we currently are. This is the generation to achieve that.

I would also say to Mr. Taylor to look to the new set-up and the Stormont Assembly. He should use his voice there as well. He should go there and have his voice heard and should look to meet the MLAs. There are people here, including me, with contacts and I think he should be using his voice in there.

The more interaction that we can get with young people, North and South, the more we will start to realise we are not different, but the same. We never had the interaction we needed. As my colleague, Deputy Brendan Smith, will agree, there was no interaction among politicians in the early days when he was co-chair of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. There was so much mistrust between politicians when they met each other for the first time. While politicians have moved on from that, people on the ground have not. Many people in the South have not gone North and many in the North have not come South. We need to change that and young people will be the catalyst for doing so. I ask the witnesses for their views on that.

I am glad the shared island initiative was mentioned. That approach does not antagonise anybody. It is good that everyone is getting involved in the conversation because when everyone is involved, everyone gets a view and we then have a proper picture of a way forward.

An Cathaoirleach

Do any of the witnesses wish to respond?

Mr. Cohen Taylor

From my perspective, it is important that we do not ignore the fact that a significant proportion of the population of Northern Ireland, including young people, vote for the DUP and Sinn Féin. The objective of the North South Youth Forum is to allow young people from a broad range of perspectives to come together and share diverse views. While I personally may not agree with the views of every young person in Northern Ireland, I certainly wish to ensure that, in this environment, the right of young people to have those opinions is respected. The importance of bringing young people who vote for those two parties and many other parties, and have many different aspirations for the future, on that journey and into those conversations cannot be underestimated.

An Cathaoirleach

Dr. Stephen Farry MP from Alliance is online, as is Claire Hanna MP. I invite Dr. Farry to speak first.

Dr. Stephen Farry

I thank the Chair. Good morning to all of the witnesses. Before addressing this topic, I wish to formally express my condolences and the condolences of my party to the Bruton family on the very sad death of the former Taoiseach, John Bruton, last week. I acknowledge Mr. Bruton's crucial role in the mid-1990s in the early stages of the Northern Ireland peace process. He leaves a very powerful legacy in that regard.

Turning to the subject of today's meeting, I ask witnesses to elaborate on their key ask around funding. What sort of funding do they need on a North-South basis to continue and develop the work they do?

On the wider issue of funding for youth services and opportunities in Northern Ireland, members will appreciate that there are some difficult public spending situations at present. There has been a squeeze on youth work and we are conscious that this generation probably faces more challenges than previous generations around opportunities and cost-of-living pressures. I ask the witnesses to articulate the pressures on young people and their concerns around the future. What can we, as politicians, do to address all of that?

Mr. Cohen Taylor

On North-South funding, when services are being designed, both in Northern Ireland and in the Republic, it is important that there is a joined-up approach, recognising the geography of the island and that young people share many issues. Whenever we, as young people, are working with government, it is important that the various North-South and east-west bodies established off the back of the Good Friday Agreement are used to try to have dialogue between politicians and to provide a more joined-up approach in crafting a budget which maximises the potential of the limited resources that we have.

As for cost-of-living pressures and youth services in Northern Ireland, all youth organisations across Northern Ireland have responded to the cost-of-living crisis as best they can with the resources they have. The cost-of-living crisis has brought a significant amount of poverty. I referenced the 15,000 families or households that presented as homeless in 2022-23. A statistic like that in a population of 1.9 million is a huge concern. Whenever we talk about youth participation and empowering young people, it is impossible to empower those young people unless their basic needs are being met first. Whenever Departments look at budgets and the funding they give to the voluntary sector, it is important that the funding that empowers young people but also funding that meets their basic needs is protected.

The Northern Ireland Youth Forum does amazing work on homelessness. It works with the Department for Communities and the Housing Executive. It does a huge amount of work on mental health issues and that is funded in part by the Department of Health. The Translink Youth Forum is also one of our programmes. There is a lot of youth work that goes on the ground in organisations like ours that is, fully or partly, funded by the Government in Northern Ireland. It is important that funding continues so that young people can continue to come to spaces such as this one and have their voices heard. It is all part of a ladder of participation, which it is important to recognise.

Ms Sarah Whelan

As for our youth work in County Louth, the place we meet for our youth groups is shared with a crèche. We do not have our own space to meet up and so forth. We lack the funding to get our own service. We would like to have our own space that we can call our home and be able to feel comfortable in. While we are grateful for the space we share with the young kids and the room we have for our youth service to meet up and so forth, we wish to have our own place.

Also, we lack CEDAR in our area. There used to be shops but those buildings are vacant now. We could transform one of those buildings into a youth club and use it as a meeting place. We just need the funding. We would all benefit from having our own space. We would be grateful for and appreciative of that.

An Cathaoirleach

Dr. Farry has two minutes left if he wishes to avail of them.

Dr. Stephen Farry

I am happy to let others take the rest of my time.

An Cathaoirleach

We have new members with us today. I will take speakers in the order that was agreed at the beginning of the meeting. I am not sure if Claire Hanna is still here. She is obviously very busy. The next speaker on the list is-----

Mr. Eric O'Connell

I will say a few things, if that is all right.

An Cathaoirleach

Please do.

Mr. Eric O'Connell

Youth information is serving as a canary in the coalmine, so to speak, in helping young people to vet information and giving them the skills to do that independently. As of now, the youth information centre for the entirety of County Galway is in Ballinasloe. This ties into a larger problem we are having in the county where there is no true open door youth space, no true third space. Young people have their homes and schools, but where do they have besides that? They should not need to participate in an activity to have somewhere to go.

Ultimately, one of the big issues for young people with regard to misinformation and disinformation is that they might not have anybody to bounce that off. Traditionally, that might have been the role of youth workers but if the parameters of that category keep expanding, it will end up with them having about 50 jobs. A true recognition of the role of the youth information officer is important in this case. Ultimately, Galway truly needs a youth centre to meet the needs of every young person, whether that be in terms of a third space, long-term support or information. It is all desperately missing.

Ms Claire Hanna

I thank the witnesses. It has been great to hear about the range of issues they have raised. I thank them for coming. I echo the words of encouragement of other members regarding the stuff they are doing together and individually. Further to questions asked by Mr. Hazzard and others, do the witnesses have any advice on engaging with young people who, at this stage, would not dream of joining a youth forum or a youth political party? These are people who are probably feeling the brunt of political failure in terms of cuts to services or a lack of pathways to work or training, but do not see the connection between politics and their lives.

On North-South mobility, it might have been members of the North South Youth Forum who gave evidence in the Oireachtas yesterday about the changes that make it a wee bit easier for students to go from North to South. Are there other things we could be doing, whether in transport, education or working opportunities, to make that flow of people easier, North and South, in a way that enhances understanding of each other?

Mr. Farry addressed the issue of misinformation and disinformation. Is there enough in the curriculums North and South about media literacy? It strikes me that those of the witnesses' generation are digital natives. They are used to living their lives online and are probably more attuned to what feels a little bit off. It is difficult to navigate the landscape, however, and, as it is a diminishing pool of people who flick on the news at 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. or whatever, we are kind of having different conversations. Are there quick wins? Are there ways that political communicators can try to get around that and produce material that is authentic and trusted?

An Cathaoirleach

I ask our visitors to answer all the questions together towards the end of the meeting. That will save time and allow other people in.

Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh

I am delighted that the witnesses are here today. I commend them on the work they have done, as well as their comprehensive manifesto and how it is laid out.

Can this be extended to other counties? How do they see it expanding? As a person from County Mayo, it is great that Galway is involved and I welcome its involvement, but I would like to see it in other counties as well. Is there an opportunity under the new PEACEPLUS programme, which for the first time makes provision for funding under strand 6, for all counties to be involved? Heretofore, only the Border counties were involved. Is there a possibility of that funding being accessed for the benefit of the North South Youth Forum and expansion?

One of the problems relating to young people's voices not being heard is that many political leaders and forums recognise that many young people do not come out to vote. When I worked in community development, we had one of the lowest turnouts in the EU of young people at election time. What can we do to improve that? The forum noted in its manifesto that people should be able to vote at 16. What difference would that make?

What difference would a constitutional right to housing make to young people? I will confine my questions to those because I know other people wish to come in. Deputy Tully may have questions on disability and so on.

Deputy Pauline Tully

I was hoping to come in on youth information, which Eric spoke about. We all depend on our phones and are always looking at information. There is a lot of valuable information on the Internet but there is a lot of misinformation as well. The witnesses made the point that it is very difficult to navigate it. Sometimes people end up following a social media account that puts out information that is totally false and misleading. There was reference to a source of youth information. I ask the witnesses to expand on how best to provide reliable information for young people on issues that are important to them.

There was reference to mental health supports, which are important. I am from County Cavan, which has been in the top 3 counties in the Twenty-six Counties for suicide rates in recent years. The rate is particularly high among young people. As a former teacher, I knew many of the young people who took their own lives. It is devastating for everybody. There are different methods being used to try to address the situation but a lack of supports for youth, youth clubs and volunteers adds to the problem. Is there a way to address that issue? Within the Department of Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth, the youth aspect receives the least funding. It is something that needs to be stressed. The witnesses and their peers are our future. We need to make sure we are addressing the issues affecting them and making sure they have a say in how we move on.

An Cathaoirleach

On the issue of Cox's Demesne, I am a local TD and Senator McGahon is a local Senator. I am more than happy to visit it and take up those issues.

Drugs have devastated the community in Drogheda in many respects. That is the key issue. It is the same in Belfast, Drogheda and everywhere else with young people. We need much more involvement from statutory and voluntary agencies to tackle this issue. That is the biggest aspect. We in Drogheda have the Drogheda implementation board. Approximately €20 million has been spent in communities that suffer as a result of drug abuse. That has offered leadership and recreational amenity. That is the way forward.

Senator John McGahon

It is great to have Hannah and Sarah, who are both from Dundalk, here. I welcome all the other witnesses as well. I appreciate them taking the time to appear. It may be a good idea for the Cathaoirleach and I to have a proper chat with them after the meeting and talk in detail about some of the issues, but I absolutely hear what they are saying about the Toberona and Fatima area in particular. As it is on the periphery of Dundalk, it is consistently forgotten about, not only in terms of the youth services to which our guests have referred, but also in the context of road maintenance and maintenance of local playing pitches. Hannah and Sarah mentioned Cox's, for example, which has many supports. It is the same with Muirhevnamore or other parts of Dundalk. Are there other parts of the town that they believe are getting more resources than places like the area from which they come?

Deputy Brendan Smith

My apologies for missing the opening statements. I was speaking in the Dáil Chamber. I came in towards the end of the comments of my colleague, Senator Blaney. He was emphasising the importance of communication between young people North and South. It is the way to go to build a better society and a better Ireland. We all want to see that achieved in future.

In the very bad days on this island prior to the peace process, I was involved to some extent with the Wider Horizons programme, which was funded by the International Fund for Ireland. Our colleague in the Oireachtas, Senator Diarmuid Wilson, in his role as Youthreach co-ordinator for County Cavan, was instrumental in implementing a number of different programmes under the Wider Horizons programme. Young people from Northern Ireland and this State often went on trips abroad to meet counterparts in the United States, Canada and Australia. Great friendships were established that have lasted to this day. It was about working together. That programme was led by Youthreach, which offers second chance education, and also the Foróige movement, which does so much good.

I remember speaking to a prominent member of the loyalist community who told me about the value he saw in the Wider Horizons programme. He told me of one very young person from a very strong loyalist family, some of whom had been involved in violence unfortunately and who would have seen nothing good about this State in the past, who had participated in the Wider Horizons programme. Not alone is he now happily married in this State, but he is a coach in Gaelic games, in football and hurling, and a powerful advocate for the GAA. That has not taken away from his beliefs in the past but it shows what communication, working together and having the opportunity to mix can do for the betterment of society and individuals.

Deputy Paul McAuliffe

It is great to hear young people's voices from across the island in Leinster House. When I was a young person involved in youth work we did North-South discussions. There were people at that time who would not sit in the room together or shake hands. These were not politicians but young people. We are now operating in an entirely different environment. As adults we must realise there are different challenges for young people now. It is great to see our visitors coming here and talking about them.

Like Senator McGahon, I will take up the points Ms Lindsay made in relation to Ballymun separately when we have a chance. Members of the Ballymun Regional Youth Resource, BRYR, are here. I remember somebody saying that if people want to see community done well, they should come to Ballymun. Our guests have done BRYR and Ballymun proud today. I thank them and I will be happy to discuss the issues they raised with them.

There was a call for an information service for young people. The shared island fund was established specifically around issues of research. If the forum were to call on Dublin City University and Ulster University to make a joint application to the shared island fund on the issues affecting young people, I imagine it would be successful.

Last Friday, when I visited Axis Ballymun there were about 30 young people from east Belfast down for a discussion, not on constitutional issues or anything to do with them, but on mental health. That was through an application funded under the shared island programme. I encourage the forum members here to look at that. I am happy to chat with the group about some of the 15 different sites in Ballymun. We could sit down and talk about it all day and I am happy to do so.

An Cathaoirleach

I thank Deputy McAuliffe. That was top class. Perhaps the forum members will come back to us with proposals on what they want us to do. I suggest they give the committee three asks, whatever they might be, and we will come back on them. We can make representations to the different Ministers and Departments, including the shared island unit, on issues the forum might be interested in.

With regard to Galway, I hear what has been said. We have Deputies here from Louth and Ballymun so we were able to deal with issues raised about those areas. We can send issues raised about Galway to the Deputies from Galway initially and then to the Ministers the forum would like the issues directed to, if that is okay. If any further or additional communication come through to us from the forum, we will follow it up. We also hope to have the forum back before the committee.

If the witnesses would like to wrap up, they have about six minutes to do so before getting back to their tour. This has been a great meeting.

Mr. Eric O'Connell

On the points that have been brought up, youth information very broadly plays into a lot of them in very significant ways. On media literacy in schools, we see it being applied in subjects like English and media but not in a practical way that young people feel they can apply to their lives. It would be ideal if that were a skill that could be taught but I have seen that a push for a change in the curriculum can be very difficult. The next best thing would be to create a space where young people have an opportunity to engage with media literacy in a way that applies practically to their lives and in an environment where they feel safe to do so.

With regard to North-South and cross-Border relations, especially between young people, there is a very good opportunity for shared mobility through the Erasmus programme abroad, excluding colleges, because it is better to get together groups of young people who want to have these constructive discussions. Again, youth information is really important in that situation because we want to get the information about the programme to the young people who might like to participate.

Reference was made to voting at the age of 16. That could help with the current mass disenfranchisement we are seeing through lack of political education. Youth information is important in this situation to give people the skills to understand politics as it applies to their life, to be able to make informed decisions on who they will vote for and to support them through that process of voting for the first time because it is incredibly daunting. You cannot expect everyone to know everything intuitively. At the same time, we are not providing spaces where those questions are being answered in a way that makes young people feel they are being heard, first of all, and respected as people who need that information.

My last point is on the lack of physical spaces for youth information. As I said, the primary way that youth information is accessed in the country at the moment under the label of explicit use information would be the "Why I" chat information service that operates through the Spunout.ie website. Currently it is being run by youth information officers around the country. It is an excellent resource but it is also important to give people the option to drop in and have a chat with someone face to face.

An Cathaoirleach

We are very tight on time. We will take a photograph outside with the group. I see Ms Whelan would like to wrap up.

Ms Sarah Whelan

In the Dundalk area we have a youth centre in the centre of the town. It provides better and more services but the problem of lack of transport needs to be tackled. In that area and in Toberona we rely on Bus Éireann. The bus usually arrives late or does not arrive at all. People in our area depend on that service for school, work and education. It is important that we get better a bus service with buses that arrive on time. We are lacking in transport to get to the town centre and often the buses are late. If we could improve that, we would be able to go into the town centre and visit the youth centre. We could possibly use it to gather around and all that stuff. Transport is an issue. We just want better services in Dundalk and also on the outskirts of the town. We do not want to complain about what others have but it is essential that we get better services for all the youth in Dundalk.

Mr. Cohen Taylor

With regard to the key ask around meaningful engagement, one of the key asks from the Northern Ireland Youth Forum manifesto is around a Minister for youth, which we have here in the Republic but not in Northern Ireland. This would be a specific Minister with responsibility for young people. That responsibility is currently spread over a number of departments. That is very important to me.

On a personal level, it would be remiss of me not to mention the 729 days and 11 hours that elapsed between the resignation of the then First Minister to the appointment of a new First Minister and deputy First Minister. I feel that while we are here today talking about the need to prioritise young people's view and the delivery of services, the most important thing is that we continue to have stable government. I believe reform is needed to ensure the Assembly never collapses again and so that young people can trust and count on their politicians to deliver for them.

That is my view. The committee has also heard the key asks of the youth forum. The North South Youth Forum will be holding a North-South youth peace event in Belfast City Hall on 23 March. There are lot of views among young people across this island and it is important that the committee hears not just ours, but those of as many young people as possible. That has been a theme today. The Northern Ireland Youth Forum came here with the key ask of meaningful long-term engagement. Engagement with the committee and it taking the proactive steps of coming to events like that and supporting the provision of funding for quality youth work will help to achieve that. I thank the members for their time.

An Cathaoirleach

It has been wonderful to have Cohen, Claire, Hannah, Sarah, Eve, Eric and all of their friends and colleagues here. We now have practical actions to take. If they communicate with us, we will get back to them. I hope we will be able to attend the forum if we can. It will depend on the Dáil's arrangements. This was really worthwhile. It is the start of a new relationship between the Oireachtas and young people North and South. We welcome that. We will take a photograph outside or in the lobby, if that is okay. We will get our guests over to their tour. There are a load of tours. They are all lined up like trains ready to go. I thank the witnesses again. It has been a very important meeting. We will hold a very quick private session while we are waiting to take the photograph.

The joint committee went into private session at 10.51 a.m. and adjourned at 11.05 a.m. until 9.30 a.m. on Thursday, 29 February 2024.