Youth urged to play democratic role

EU: Democracy is progressively weakened if a generation turns its back on involvement in effective participation in democratic life, an EU Ministers' Youth Conference was told yesterday.

In the opening address of the conference, Ireland's Minister of State for Youth Affairs, Ms Síle de Valera, told delegates: "It is important that young people participate in the structures that impact directly on their lives at local, regional, national and international levels."

She acknowledged: "It is fair to say that there is a good degree of scepticism and cynicism out there among young people about the political establishment.

"This is something that is of great concern to policymakers and we need to address it."

At the two-day conference in Dromoland Castle, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co Clare, being staged as part of Ireland's EU Presidency, Ms de Valera said if young people feel at a remove from political institutions, "then we need to give some thought as to why this should be so."

She said: "Young people seem to be less inclined to get involved in local and community activities and, nowadays, there are probably more options than ever for them to do so.

She asked: "Why should this be? If, as the earlier part of the Irish National Youth Work Development Plan asserts, there is a greater trend towards individualism, does this impact on young people participating? How do we counter this?"

She added: "Representative democracy is the bedrock on which our individual countries and our European Union are built.

"The health of our democracies is clearly linked to the extent of representation contained within.

"I believe it is incumbent on those of us active in public life to continually seek to ensure the greatest extent of representation in our democracies.

"We are fortunate, in a sense, to be operating in the youth sphere because young people comprise one major sector of our democracies and, through our involvement in the sector, we can help to raise awareness and encourage greater participation.

"In fact, I might be so bold as to say that, more than being fortunate in being able to help, we are obliged to do so.

"The active involvement of young people in civil life at all levels enriches the policy debate on every issue and underlines the common rights and responsibilities of every citizen.

At the conference, 180 delegates - including those from the 10 EU accession countries - met to discuss the two themes of "Young People and Politics - a key dimension of youth participation" and "The Development of Youth Policy at European Level".