Implementing the European Youth Work Agenda in Ireland

Can you both introduce yourselves and your roles in youth work?

Jean-Marie: Hi, my name is Jean-Marie Cullen and I am the International Affairs Manager in the National Youth Council of Ireland. My role is to support and encourage an international dimension to youth work in Ireland and promote participation opportunities for young people, such as overseeing initiatives such as the EU Youth Dialogue process and the Bonn Process.

Janice: I am Janice McGarry, I work with the National Youth Council and have recently been appointed as the national coordinator for the Bonn Process. My role is to work with my colleagues and to consult the wider youth sector about priority areas in the context of the Bonn Process. I am also responsible for recruiting the various skill sets that we need to form a team for working on the Bonn Process.

What is the situation of youth work in Ireland at the moment?

Jean-Marie: The National Youth Council facilitated the creation of a vision for youth work developed together with the National Council's membership and the wider youth sector, and that provides a vision for the future direction of youth work in Ireland for the next 10 years.

The Youth Ministry is launching a new strategy in relation to youth work “Opportunities for young people” in 2024 and there is a new overarching children and youth policy framework, “Young Ireland”, that was launched last year.

“Young Ireland” is a national policy framework for children and young people for the period 2023 to 2028. All these initiatives are a great opportunity for linking the Bonn Process to the youth work sector from a policy and practice perspective.

There is a very innovative and rich culture of youth work in Ireland. While youth work in Ireland continues to be an outstanding example of work with young people, the Covid 19 pandemic and other aspects of recent social change and public policy have presented many organisations with new and more complex challenges. Many of these are related to volunteering, such as the recruiting and retaining of volunteers.

Janice: I think what we have in Ireland is quite unique, not just in terms of the different types of youth work practice, but in the diversity of the work that we do with young people. We are starting a mapping process of youth work provision as part of the Bonn Process.

Youth work in Ireland is led by the voluntary (NGO) sector which means that it has a grassroots approach to responding to the needs of young people and communities. We also have many challenges of course, one of the biggest issues we have is the recruitment and retention of youth workers because of poor pay and employment terms.

Jean-Marie: A recent study by the National Youth Council asked the general public about youth work and the results showed that approximately 90% of Irish people really value youth work and wish to see it funded better. It also showed that there is a belief among the public that youth work organisations provide important non-formal education for young people and have a strong view that youth work plays a key role in supporting social cohesion.

Another outcome is that 42% of Irish people have participated in youth work.

What is the situation regarding the implementation of the European Youth Work Agenda in Ireland?

Janice: The situation at the moment is that we are really excited about it in the National Youth Council.

Youth workers can often be a little bit overwhelmed by the concept of policy, so we wanted to make sure that whatever we deliver to the community of practice is attractive and exciting. We came up with this idea of conducting a mapping process of youth work in Ireland in relation to each of the eight thematic priorities of the European Youth Work Agenda.

We want to capture the essence and uniqueness of Irish youth work. We will then use this as a platform to highlight what needs to happen next for youth work in Ireland and propose actual steps for overcoming any issues and responses to developmental needs.

We have called the project “Bonn Appetit”. The reason for the name is that we want to grow the appetite for the Bonn Process within the sector as well as outside of the sector in the business and corporate world. “Bonn Appetit” will be presented as a menu of four courses.

The first course is for showcasing the things that we do to develop relationships with young people. The main course is about the developmental aspects of youth work, the personal and social development of young people. We have the tapas course where young people can taste and try a lot of different youth work experiences. The dessert is focused on empowering young people to stay involved in their own communities and to give something back.

This provides an opportunity to highlight the employment issues and retention of youth workers in the sector. We want to explore this issue with the sector and possible opportunities such as developing a competence-based approach similar to the European Youth Worker Competence framework but in an Irish context. Things like this can really boost the recognition of youth work.

Jean-Marie: I would say in Ireland at all levels, locally, regionally and nationally, the community of practice does not know what the Bonn Process is. We want to get the community of practice connected to the Bonn Process and have them understand that they are part of this bigger community (European youth work) and encourage them to join this effort to bring new strategies to life.

What will the youth work look like in Ireland in five years if the European Youth Work Agenda continues to develop in the way that things are developing?

Janice: If it all happens the way we want it to happen, our vision for youth work will be fulfilled and youth work will be well resourced. Youth work managers at a local level will not have concerns about staff recruitment and retention, and the conditions of youth work employment contracts will be greatly improved.

A practical example of something for the future would be having a well resourced apprenticeship programme for youth workers.

Jean-Marie: In five years time it will continue to support and compliment the vision for youth work we already have, which is to have a high quality, well resourced youth work service.

This means that the expressed needs of young people are responded to by paid professionals and well supported volunteers. Also, young people from diverse backgrounds being able to more easily access and engage in youth work.

(Written by Nik Paddison on behalf of JUGEND für Europa)

Jean-Marie Cullen and Janice McGarry

Jean-Marie Cullen is the International Affairs Manager for the National Youth Council of Ireland and Janice McGarry is the National Coordinator for the Bonn Process in Ireland.