"Youth not thugs": Young Alliance

12.00.00am GMT Sat 13th Aug 2005

Young Alliance Chairman Ian James Parsley has said the appalling thuggery of the last week is in no way a fair reflect of today's youth in Northern Ireland.

Speaking after a meeting with North Down YMCA, the Holywood Councillor stated: "The last few days have seen a series of attacks on and by teenagers of appalling savagery. I think I speak for many people when I say that my thoughts and prayers are still with the families of those affected.

"I would be concerned, however, if people started thinking that today's youth is all about thuggery and violence. That would be a most unfair reflection.

"The YMCA volunteers, acting with limited resources, are but one example of the good work going on in so many communities that few people hear about. In this time of rapid social change, the fact that people are prepared to give up their time to run sports clubs, develop community education projects or set up church clubs is an example of the determination of the majority to live and work in peace and friendship.

"However, if government resources continue to be spent more on creating work for bureaucrats engaged in theory, rather than on practical action within communities, there is a real risk that such good work will be lost.

"We must stop this outdated notion that youth work is about recreational facilities. It is in fact about providing an infrastructure of informal education for young people from primary school right through to beyond the teenage years, so that they have the resources and knowledge to support themselves, their families and their neighbours."

ENDS