Ford/Lo address Queen's students on brain drain

10.12.43am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 17th Apr 2007

Alliance Party spokesperson on youth affairs, Cllr Ian James Parsley

Alliance Party Leader David Ford and newly elected South Belfast MLA Anna Lo will address students on the issue of stopping the brain drain at Queen's University next week.

Queen's Alliance Society is running the event, which will take place on Wednesday 25 April from 1pm-2pm in Room 303 of the Peter Froggatt Centre.

Alliance Party spokesperson on youth affairs, Cllr Ian James Parsley, explains: "Challenges faced by students in 2007 are quite different from those even a decade ago. Despite the great progress we have made in Northern Ireland, many are leaving University heavily indebted, with choice of quality career and reasonably priced housing limited.

"Our students deserve a much better deal than this. If we stopped wasting time and money on segregation, and instead politicians delivered answers on the real issues, we would be a much better society.

"Queen's Alliance is stepping into the void to provide a platform for those seeking answers on the real issues. I know, in David Ford and Anna Lo, they have two strong advocates in the Assembly for a better deal for students and a better deal for young people."

The event comes on the back of a successful "Annoyance Board" event run by the Society in February, which gave students the opportunity to express their frustration at politicians, where graduate jobs and housing for first-time buyers were shown to be among the key issues for students.

ENDS