Time for realistic focus on youth entrepreneurship

9.16.49am GMT Tue 15th Nov 2005

At the start of the UK Week for Youth Enterprise, Young Alliance Chairman Cllr Ian James Parsley has called for a realistic focus on youth entrepreneurship.

The North Down Councillor stated: "Politicians of all colours are quite happy to talk about encouraging entrepreneurship, but this is mere platitude without concrete action. Too much focus is currently on Invest NI to provide all the answers, yet this misses the fundamental point. The promotion of entrepreneurship among young people must start right from school.

"The UK is a world leader in entrepreneurship, but we in Northern Ireland have fallen behind because of our 'dependency culture'. Too often, the idea in Northern Ireland remains 'where do we get money' rather than 'where do we earn money'. This attitude will not change if our entire structure is based on grants later in life. The idea of taking that risk and setting up in business has to be planted within the education system, not by administrators apparently bearing gold to people in their mid-20s who have never held down a full-time job before.

"We must not forget either that, frankly, not everyone 'can do it'. We are so busy talking about getting people to set up businesses, we are forgetting to promote employment within the existing private sector. Northern Ireland companies already provide a sound foundation for a growing economy, particularly in construction, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing. The last thing we need to do is take talent coming out of our schools and universities and divert it away from those existing,

successful firms, where they can learn far more about the reality of private-sector life than on any course. In the end, when it comes to setting up in business at whatever time in life, nothing beats previous on-the-job experience. We would do well to remember that."

ENDS