Fortnight Publications Ltd.

Ulster Youth: Singular or Similar?Author(s): Kevin BoyleSource: Fortnight, No. 152 (Aug., 1977), pp. 8, 13Published by: Fortnight Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25546358 .

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8/Fortnight

wanted to do was to stop travelling and to have lawnmowers and flying ducks up the wall like everyone else. Some local authorities have thus been giving houses to families as and

when they become available. At Bohermore in Galway three houses had been allocated to three itinerant families who had been living in a

desperately forlorn collection of

tarpaulin, cardboard and caravan in

the area. The Bohermore Residents'

Association, in a fine display of traditional pre-Christian thinking, declared that there would be no room at the Bohermore inn so long as they

were patrons, and that the families should go on living in the stable. They picketed the houses and prevented the families moving in. The High Court declared the picketing illegal but the upright law and order citizens of Galway went on picketing. A local TD and Parliamentary Secretary, Maire Geoghegan-Quinn supported the residents, who said they would

accept one itinerant family into their fold. A compromise was struck and two of the families are to be housed in the estate and the third will be placed elsewhere. The settlement is most

timely, leaving the Residents' Association now free to take their summer holidays?caravanning no

doubt.

+ + + + + + Before the summer recess, Mrs

Geoghegan-Quinn's colleagues de

voted two days of Dailing implement ing a few of the election gifts for

which the country had been eagerly waiting. They had got rid of car tax for up to 16 horse power cars and introduced in its place an annual

registration fee of ?5. A rose by any other name and no doubt in the years ahead the cost of this particular rose

will rise, just like car tax. Since car

insurance, spares and cars them

selves are all much higher in the south than the north it hardly makes for

cheaper motoring (for me!). But Fianna Fail are trying to be the

motorists' friend. Dessie O'Malley, Minister of Commerce, is making angry noises in the direction of petrol companies and their mammoth

profits. Since petrol will be obsolete within the next 25 years, they are

probably trying to make hay while the sun shines or until they figure out how to get a monopoly on sunshine itself (a source of energy I'm told).

On the jobs front the government came up with a scheme to employ graduates as temporary teachers in national schools. They would be

employed for three years as teachers

on three-quarters salary after which

they would have to go to teacher

training college for a year if they wanted to remain in the profession. I

hope they don't apply the same

principle to medicine. + + + + + +

The Senate elections are in full

swing. They are conducted by post and county councillors and TDs and senators are the electorate. The most

interesting bit, for a QUB intellectual like myself, are the university seats,

where the cream of the country attempt to persuade graduates of

Trinity and UCD to put a bit of

independent life into the Oireachtas. The candidates are a glittering array of liberals, radicals, academics and

Fortnight contributors (WEST KNOWS BEST-Trevor, that is, not

Harry). I refuse to make predictions,

except to say that it will probably be the last election with Trinity and UCD

having three seats each. Such is the merit of the candidates compared with the pathetic bunch that compete for the popular vote in Dail elections that I could recommend almost a dozen to you. So this strange little and anti-democratic one man six,

seven or eight vote election should ensure another handful of indepen dently minded parliamentarians in Leinster House. That's the strange thing about all this democracy nonsense, it depends on circum

stances. I only ever thought the one man one vote stuff, up and down

Linenhall Street with the banners, was a prelude to redistributing the extra votes to the right people?like

me and, possibly, one or two others.

Martyn Turner

ULSTER YOUTH: SINGULAR OR SIMILAR?

BY KEVIN BOYLE

Lord Melchett, Minister of State at theNorthern Ireland Office, convened a conference on the problems of

Northern Ireland's youth at Queen's

University, Belfast, on June 28.

Despite the efforts of the organisers and the catchy title, The Trouble with

Being Young, few young people showed up; but it was a useful exer cise in consultation between the

policymakers at the DHSS, led by Maurice Hayes, and agencies (statutory and voluntary) concerned

with young people in the Province. Three reports commissioned spe

cially for the conference were intended to supply the focus for

discussion: 77?e Problem of Juvenile

Delinquency, a short review of

research findings relating to causa

tion, prevention and treatment, with

predictably agnostic conclusions, pre

pared at the Institute of Criminology in Cambridge; Government Provision

of Services for Young People, itemising an impressive list of

activities on the official level with what it costs; and Young People and Civil Conflict in Northern Ireland, edited by Professor Laurie Taylor and Sarah Nelson, with contributions from academics at Queen's and NUU.'

In the event the 350 participants? starved of such opportunities since| Direct Rule?largely ignored thei.

reports and used the day as a 'talk-in'

about their activities and grievances. continued on poop ii

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August/13

continued from pages The Taylor-Nelson document is the

most important. It attempts to sort out the known from the unknown in the rather uneven research done on

youth since the Ulster 'Troubles'

began in 1969. Their survey raises the central question: How singular are the problems of youth in Northern Ireland?

Comparative research with other UK regions and cities might show that some major concerns voiced at the conference, like vandalism,

truancy or indiscipline in schools, owe more to common urban trends than

the specific conditions of the present conflict in Ulster. There is a tendency to lump all the problems together and blame the violence. The bombers have certainly compounded the

problems of the inner city areas in Belfast, but as the Report points out, the violence obscures years of

government neglect in housing, economic development and the provision of recreational facilities, evident long before the conflict started. If anything the violence has

highlighted some of the worst conditions of social and economic

deprivation in Europe, and forced some remedial action. The few young people who attended emphasised forcibly that their uncomplicated demands from the adults are the same as the young in any deprived area in Britain ?a job and decent place to live.

The Taylor-Nelson Report states

carefully over one problem specific to

us; the involvement of the young in terrorism. Both Loyalist and Republi can paramilitants are predominantly

working class teenagers (see Fortnight, No. 126, 7 May 1976). The

Report attacks the media for myth making about youth involvement in terrorism which is represented as

irrational, immature or the product of

manipulation by more hardened adults. However it doesn't quite come out and admit that the motivation of the young may be political. Taylor and Nelson do note the amazing lack of discussion about what should be done with young people who are convicted of te-rorist offences. Stiffer penalties are demanded, longer sentences result and more and more

young people are locked away. To what end? The Conference did not

^s. produce much enlightenment on thic

g^fer> and other questions raised, but more

gK^i consultation and more research is

^_W' promised.

The Conference proceedings and papers are to be published later.

RESULTS OF COMPETITION No. 2 Unemployment has been a pressing problem for our politicians since the Convention ended. Competitors were invited to submit imaginary job applications from any local politician for the post of film star, prison warder, lavatory attendant, car salesman or editor of Fortnight. RESULTS

j Entries were a staggering 400% up from last time (entry: one) which I suppose is cause for minor celebration. They reveal a regrettably lewd mentality among Fortnight readers and an obsession with the lavatorial side of life. The loyalist side, too: unlike the Orange Cross editors, our readers don't seem to find the SDLP fertile soil for the humorous imagination. There were no pleas from Gerry Fitt to film directors for the star role in 'the fastest gun in the vest'. Special thanks to the Schmidts of Lisburn for their enjoyable contributions, one of which is featured among our winners. The second winner, P. Shooter of Belfast, sounds a

disreputable character who would be wise not to pollute the Martyrs Memorial with his/her presence for a while.

Dear Sir ?

LAVATORY ATTENDANT-PUBLIC TOILETS, DONEGALL SQUARE I wish to apply for the above post recently advertised in Fortnight.

My reasons for applying for this post are those of public interest. I have in my possession documents relating to an intended takeover by loyalist and republican paramilitaries of the City Hall, making it a no-go area for ordinary decent politicians like myself, and leading to a communist takeover in Ulster.

I have been informed on very good authority that leading figures from paramilitary groups use the Gentleman's toilet opposite the City Hall as a rendezvous, both for messages and personal discussions.

Although I am a lady, I think that this matter is of such great public importance that I am prepared to disguise myself as a man if necessary in order to observe and discover with my own eyes the ramifications of this evil conspiracy.

I therefore urge upon you the immediate necessity of making a patriotic and imaginative appointment to the above post.

<?!|i?jfR^ M. Schmidt

Dear Sir,

I respectfully apply to be engaged for the vacant post of Gentlemen's Cloakroom attendant at Stormont Castle, and beg consideration of my following character and qualifications.

As a Minister of the Free Presbyterian Church and a major member of the DUP: (1)1 have always (D.V.) been regular in my daily performance and will be

conscientious in the service of all (except Sundays when I must attend the call of the Lord).

(2) The humblest and most menial duties to my fellow man are venereable in the sight of the Almighty and I perform them gladly. Indeed having sacrificed my being and intelligence many years in the unquestioning service of our great Moderator and leader of the people of Ulster, waiting at the thrones of higher mortals has become a way of life for me.

(3) I have always believed that Cleanliness is next to Godliness. The filth and slime to be scrubbed from the soul of Ulster is nobody's business. Some one must fumigate the foul blast of permissiveness choking our beloved province and flush out the moral dregs of our society. May I suggest, sir, that nowhere than at Stormont Castle is there greater need for these functions to be performed. Where can be found a richer hotbed of moral decadence and the elevation of sodomy? That foul perversion, that generator, in the words of Rev Dr I R K Paisley, DD, of all forms of uncleanliness and bestiality. May I assure you, sir, that in one part of your famous erection God's rules will never be bent. There will be no sodomy in

my Cloak Room. Elevation will be provided by the removal of lewd graffiti and the substitution of Biblical texts.

I await a reply at your convenience.

P. Shooter

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