Give me a Job, and then i'll vote for you!

By Elaine Canny

With only a matter of hours away until Super Friday, it is hoped by all political candidates that the youth of Ireland use their vote in making their mark in Ireland today. According to a study carried out, over 70% of young people will not use their vote. Young people are becoming more and more disengaged with politics, viewing it as "corrupt" and "boring". With the current economic climate it’s more important than ever for young people to get out and enforce a change in politics whether it be local, national or Europe. The dole figures are on the rise and have reached record numbers. Unemployment levels are accelerating at uncontrollable speeds and thousands of young graduates are leaving the country. This summer Ireland is facing losing its most skilled youth.

Earlier this year, the Taoiseach predicted that 400,000 people would sign on. At this stage those figures are steadily being met. FÁS predicts unemployment will increase to 12% by this time next year. In December the ESRI predicted unemployment would rise to 10% in 2009.

Speaking with Fianna Fail MEP candidate Paschal Mooney, he has urged the youth to get out and use their vote. Referring to young people, unemployment was the main issues Paschal came up against in his campaign .

"I believe national government plays a vital role in creating training placements for graduates coming out of colleges with limited employment opportunities, i don’t think they have responded as adequately as they should have, but i do accept there was budget constraints that have impacted adversely in that. The European Union’s social fund provides 45% of the overall budget which is directed at youth employment, training and up skilling and i believe that is the way newly elected MEPs should challenge the fund in creating employment. This constituency (North West) has a great entrepreneurial spirit with 55% of employment coming from small enterprise businesses. I would be a strong advocate in supporting training places for young people. Many people have been living on the margin despite the Celtic Tiger, there is a lot of talent among the youth in this area i would hate to see that wasted, (...) it could come back to haunt us one day."

Aisling, a recent Civil engineering graduate of GMIT, Galway says ‘"I think more emphasis has to be put on students and what happens after they graduate, something needs to be put in place in order to get us to the next level of our careers, there are no jobs out there, I’m facing into the dole queues , it wasn’t the outcome i expected four years ago when i took up my course. If politicians want us to become more aware of them, they should start helping us out".

Thousands of students are leaving the country by the day, in the hope of finding work and a better life elsewhere. Ireland once upon a time was a booming economy with a skilled and ambitious workforce that had the potential to take this country beyond its limits. Now it’s a country left ravaged and burned by an incompetent government who failed to watch for the iceberg. Voting begins tomorrow in the North West.