Sir, – The failure to find jobs commensurate with their level of education will not create resentment and fury among Ireland’s young as David McWilliams believes, but rather apathy and inertia (“Does it matter that Ireland’s bar staff and baristas are over-qualified? I think it does”, Opinion, May 2nd).
In the UK they have discovered this the hard way with roughly one in eight of people aged 16-24 not in education, employment or training. Attempts to reverse this trend have failed and the country is now staring down the barrel of a lost generation.
The Irish Government must learn from these mistakes before it is too late. We need greater investment in and promotion of vocational pathways beyond traditional university-level education. This will allow us to rebalance our workforce and employment landscape, ensuring there is a place to land for every young person in this country. - Yours, etc,
RYAN MCKIERNAN,
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Managing director, Fat Macy’s Foundation
London,
UK.
