Daily grind eroding community values, says Ahern

Pressures of modern life hinder people from playing a full role as citizens, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said.

Mr Ahern added that a lack of time and the pressure on people to be high achievers in everything they did meant they took less interest in what was happening in their neighbourhood, their town or the country as a whole.

He was speaking on Saturday at the annual National Youth Conference, held this year under the theme of active citizenship. The conference was attended by youth work organisations and voluntary groups from around the country.

"There is nothing complicated about being an active citizen. It means taking an interest in what is happening in your neighbourhood, in your town or village and the country as a whole," Mr Ahern said.

"I do have a concern, however, that we are losing some of the community spirit which existed in the past."

It was his goal to encourage more people to participate in their locality, by joining community groups, voting in elections, volunteering or making an effort to welcome immigrants to Ireland, he added.

Mr Ahern pointed out that of the Republic's present population of over four million, 41 per cent are below the age of 25, compared to an EU average of 25 per cent.

Young people were therefore "an active and vital force" in the country's social, political and economic development.

The Taoiseach recently set up a Taskforce on Active Citizenship, a response to the decline in the numbers participating in and volunteering to organise a range of social and community activities.

He told participants at the conference that while young people had to be encouraged to assume a greater role in society, valuable work was already being done by many organisations in areas such as environmental improvement, care for the elderly and services for the disabled.

"The value of these projects is that they create a sense of collective community responsibility . . . and a sense of being members of a community which supports them and is supported by them," Mr Ahern said.

Minister for Youth Affairs Síle de Valera told the conference the Department of Education and Science will spend over €45 million on youth work activities this year.