Engaging meeting on Youth Unemployment

Last saturday saw young republicans gather for the Youth Unemployment Conference in Dublin, to discuss and debate the various issues surrounding youth unemployment. Youth activists from across the country gathered in the Teachers Club in Parnell Square.

Youth debate l ro r, Seána Mallaghan, SF, Conor Ryan Labour, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire SF, Eddie McCabe, SP

The conference opened up with a discussion on 'What is the Reality for the Young Unemployed in 2010?', during which Bríd O'Brien of the Irish National Organisation for the Unemployed set the scene for activists, during which she detailed the precarious financial situation many of the young employed find themselves in, and the social impact it has on families and communities.

'Government Policies driving down jobs'

This was followed by a Panel discussion which addressed a variety of issues related to unemployment.

The first speaker, on the topic of 'How to create jobs' was Michael Taft of Unite, economist and blogger. In a contribution very much aimed at creating debate, and challenging the activists present.

Bríd O Brien of the INOU speaks

He stated that the crucial thing to get the economy moving again and to create jobs, and to put money in to the productive economy. He noted that we needed to avoid being constrained by 'Statist models, and that the state sector needed to reclaim the word Entreprise, and promote, Public Entreprise. Ultimately, he said Government Policies were driving down jobs, which is in turn exacerbating the Economic and fiscal crisis.

Following this, Conor O'Gorman of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions spoke on the topic of 'How trade unions create jobs, and why we need them', along with Ógra activist and representative of the Independent Workers Union, Joe Lynch. Conor welcomed the opportunity to speak on the topic, and noted that sometimes people are inclined to forget the fact the trade unions do in fact protect jobs. On the topic of Social Partership, both speakers accepted that it was now dead, Conor opining that it was never a partnership of equals, while Joe Lynch was of the opinion that workers locking themselves in to such long term agreements was not sensible. Both also flagged up the very detrimental role that employment agencies can play in low-wage workplaces, and also noted that there were still too few people who made the connection between the way they cast their vote, and the conditions in their workplace.

L to R James Doorley NYCI, Michael Taft, UNITE, Conor O'Gorman ICTU, Joe Lynch IWU

James Doorley of the National Youth Council then spoke on the topic of 'Creating a vocal lobby for the young unemployed, during which he outlined the work of the Youth Council over the last number of years, and what the have come across the young unemployed. He felt it was the number one issue for young people, and to some extent was being ignored, but the scale of it was clear, of the 5000 new unemployed in the latest live register figures, half were under 25. The Youth council see this as their big advocacy prioities over the coming time, and James flagged up their own plans to host a conference, later in the year.

The final session involved a lively cross party debate involving National Organiser Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire on behalf of SF, Conor Ryan on behalf of Labour Youth, and Eddie mcCabe of the Socialist Youth, on the issue of creating a political alternative. Conor highlighted labour policy in a wide variety of areas, and made the case for Labour as a potential party of government, while Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, made the argument, that now was the time for the left to work together and to really create the possibillity of a progressive government, while Eddie noted the systematic nature of the economic crisis and of the need to deconstruct capitalism. This was followed by a very healthy debate before the conference was wrapped up and activists moved in to the protest against the flotilla killings

Commenting on the conference National Organiser, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire stated that he felt the conference was an extremely interesting and engaging event.
'I very much enjoyed the level of debate and discussion here today, and believe that we can gain a great deal from it. It is the big issue for young people at the minute, and we need to focus on it.
However this conference will be worthless unless we use this as a springboard to get out there in the communities and get active on this issue and get campaigning and I urge all activists to do so.'