Our House is on Fire
The youth of today will have lives characterised by some of the greatest challenges to ever befall a generation. Being from our small part of the world comes with additional challenges. Ethno-national division in Northern Ireland leeches into all areas of society and is an ever-present challenge to political and social progression despite twenty years having passed since sectarian conflict overwhelmed this region. Will my generation make strives forward where those before us have failed, or will a generation presented with peace still have to contend with the conflict of the past?
Coronavirus Legacy
The aftermath of the pandemic is sure to be accompanied by a period of grief. Grief for lost time, lost jobs, lost personal freedoms, but also a communal grief for the destabilisation of our society. In the rebuilding period following the pandemic, today’s youth will be charged with leading the way towards healing, whilst also contending with the weight of their own experiences.
Ageing Population
The pandemic has shone a light on our treatment of the elderly population. Approximately 1/3 of COVID-19 deaths here have occurred in the residential care sector. Historic underfunding, high staff turnover, and lack of support combined to create an environment for pandemic devastation. In the next twenty-five years a 56.2% increase in those aged 65 and over is expected. Current service models are incapable of meeting future service users’ needs. If societies are judged by how they treat their most vulnerable members Northern Ireland is falling fatally short. It is vital that steps are taken to ensure that the latter part of one’s life can be experienced with as much dignity and contentment as years previous; a challenge it seems which will be inherited by today’s youth.
Economy
Even before the pandemic, Northern Ireland’s GDP per head grew slower than anywhere else in the UK. Coronavirus has exacerbated this situation further with 11,000 redundancies since it’s outbreak; half of these redundancies came from manufacturing and retail sectors, the latter of which is heavily populated by young people. With an unemployment crisis looming, the economic effects of Brexit not yet known, and the return of normality still a way off, the future of Northern Ireland’s economy is uncertain at best. What is clear is that the economic effects of coronavirus will continue to be felt for years to come.
Climate Change
In Northern Ireland we must reduce carbon emissions by 82% to ensure the UK achieves carbon neutrality by 2050. Between an economic reliance on agriculture which produces nearly 30% of our carbon emissions, a rate 20% higher than the rest of the UK, and our lack of forest coverage, this reduction will be hard won.
Whilst currently there are two documents on the table regarding climate change, the first a cross-party Private Members Bill and the second published by the Department for Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs, these Bills becoming law remains doubtful. Climate change is not protected from the partisanship of our Assembly. Former Environment Minister Edwin Poots, as well as other members of the DUP, carry scepticism. Mr Poots himself stated that climate change is not a crisis and the language of emergency is inappropriate. Decarbonising Northern Ireland will necessitate a systemic shift in behaviour, reinvestment in innovation, and a move towards energy saving technologies; another momentous challenge for the generation which follows to inherit.
Legacy of a Conflict
We are living in a new era of technology, of right-wing nationalism, of societal inequality which is more evident than ever before. Today’s youth must ensure that we make efforts to overcome the ethno-national political division which constructs a barrier to progression in Northern Ireland, lest we be forced to cast our eyes further, towards the next generation, for the hope of a better future.