Youth Participation in the Republic of Ireland - Youth Work Ireland
Youth Participation in the Republic of Ireland - Youth Work Ireland
Youth Participation in the Republic of Ireland - Youth Work Ireland
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created separate ‘virtual’ sites with<strong>in</strong> which a dist<strong>in</strong>ctive youth culture exists and <strong>in</strong>deedflourishes.The current generation is somewhat unique <strong>in</strong> <strong>Ireland</strong> <strong>in</strong>s<strong>of</strong>ar as that <strong>the</strong>y are ‘TigerCubs’; <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>fspr<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mush vaunted ‘Celtic Tiger Economy’ that has transformed<strong>the</strong> Irish socio-economic landscape. Unlike previous generations <strong>the</strong>y have grown up <strong>in</strong> arelatively affluent society and have a high disposable <strong>in</strong>come relative to <strong>the</strong>se previousgenerations. Issues such as mass unemployment and emigration which bedeviled policymakers for decades have receded and are perceived as ancient history by most teenagers.This affluence has fed <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> overall rise <strong>in</strong> consumerism and has also raised concernsabout <strong>the</strong> growth <strong>in</strong> substance use amongst young people. These concerns appear to bewell founded; research published <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Journal <strong>of</strong> American College Health showed thatamongst college students Irish young people came <strong>in</strong> as <strong>the</strong> highest dr<strong>in</strong>kers with 57% <strong>of</strong>female and 49% <strong>of</strong> male be<strong>in</strong>g classified as heavy b<strong>in</strong>ge dr<strong>in</strong>kers (Exam<strong>in</strong>er, 24/10/06).Heavy dr<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g rema<strong>in</strong>s a feature <strong>of</strong> Irish cultural life with <strong>the</strong> pub occupy<strong>in</strong>g a centralsocial space. Consumption patterns are chang<strong>in</strong>g yet accord<strong>in</strong>g to National Geographic(November 2006) <strong>Ireland</strong> is second only to <strong>the</strong> Czech <strong>Republic</strong> <strong>in</strong> beer consumption, withan average <strong>of</strong> 127.4 litres per person be<strong>in</strong>g quaffed by <strong>the</strong> population.<strong>Youth</strong> <strong>Work</strong> <strong>Ireland</strong> has criticized Government policy <strong>in</strong> relation to young people andalcohol, claim<strong>in</strong>g that;“It is probably <strong>the</strong> worst policy <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> world” (McLoughl<strong>in</strong>, <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>Exam<strong>in</strong>er, 30/11/06).The situation regard<strong>in</strong>g illicit recreational drug use has come to be viewed as perhaps <strong>the</strong>s<strong>in</strong>gle gravest youth issue requir<strong>in</strong>g attention today. Responses targeted primarily atwork<strong>in</strong>g and welfare dependant class areas are coord<strong>in</strong>ated by ‘Local Drugs Task Forces’and typically seek to engage ‘at risk’ young people viii <strong>in</strong> youth service measures.<strong>Participation</strong> <strong>in</strong> socially acceptable activities is viewed as a key aspect <strong>in</strong> counter<strong>in</strong>gparticipation <strong>in</strong> activities perceived as deviant by society (National Drugs Strategy Team,1999).16