ХудожникИконописikoniAlliance Youth is delighted to announce that a new Alliance Youth society has been formed at the University of Ulster, Coleraine. Chaired by final-year student Ciarán Duffy, the group – which offers a political home for local young people who want to live in a society which actively promotes inclusion, diversity and tolerance – made its first public appearance at the recent UU Freshers’ Fayre, followed last week by a movie and pizza night for new members. The group was privileged to be joined at UU Coleraine by Councillor Yvonne Boyle (Coleraine East), and Councillor Jayne Dunlop (Ballymena North), who commented,

“I was delighted to see members of Alliance Youth at the Freshers’ Fayre in Coleraine. It is great to see enthusiastic young members representing the party and helping to make others aware of the work of Alliance. We need more young men and women to become involved in politics, to vote in elections and to contribute to the future government of our country.”

Also in attendance were members of Alliance Youth’s national executive, including its recently elected Chair, Graham Scobie, who also congratulated Ciarán on his hard work and success in bringing the Alliance Party’s vision for a shared future to UU Coleraine:

“I believe it is a very positive step to have a positive, liberal political voice at UU Coleraine. Sadly Coleraine has been plagued with sectarianism for much too long, evidenced by its being named the third most sectarian town outside of Belfast in our province in an academic report last year. I hope that the Alliance Youth society at UU Coleraine can help reinvigorate public discussion and debate about the best way toward a shared future in our town”.

Graham was also a candidate in the local council elections in Coleraine this May and hopes to use his position as Chair of Alliance Youth’s national executive to continue to contribute to a building a shared future in Coleraine, by supporting the development of the Alliance Youth branch at UU Coleraine.

Alliance Youth is leading real change for all young people across all of Northern Ireland, and beyond. To get involved or for more information on upcoming events follow the Facebook and Twitter links to the right of this page.

QUB Alliance Youth Chair, Aaron McIntyre, has praised the success of Alliance Youth at Queen’s Freshers’ Fair last week. A record number of people showed their support for a Northern Ireland based on a shared future by signing up to Alliance Youth as well as the main Party.

Many students welcomed the recent announcement by the Alliance Minister for Employment and Learning, Dr. Stephen Farry, for his decision to maintain the current rate of tuition fees. Aaron McIntyre applauded the decision, commenting,

“Dr. Farry has secured additional funding, which means students will not be faced with unfair hikes in fees and a drop in the standard of education. The procurement of extra funds will enable universities in the North to maintain their reputation as globally competitive centres for learning, which will invariably have a significant positive effect on the Province’s economic recovery. Our new Alliance Youth members have indicated that they are tired of the regressive politics of the past and that Alliance is the only viable alternative to the outdated camps of Nationalism and Unionism in Northern Ireland”.

Alliance Youth would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who helped at the various Freshers’ Fairs across the Province, and to extend a warm welcome to our new members. We look forward to seeing everyone again at the various events planned for the coming academic year.

For a full list of all upcoming Alliance Youth events, please see our Facebook page.

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Alliance Youth are proud to have been among the 10,000 participants who marched through the streets of Belfast for the 21st Annual Belfast Pride Parade in a demonstration of solidarity with the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in Northern Ireland.

Alliance Youth were supported by our friends from Liberal Youth Northern Ireland as well as members of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. A number of elected representatives also joined us for the Parade, including the Alliance Minister for Employment and Learning, Dr. Stephen Farry.

Alliance Youth gets creative for Pride

Queen’s University Alliance Youth Chair, Aaron McIntyre, commented, “It was great to have so many Alliance Youth members, supporters and elected representatives out in support of the LGBT community. After Jim Wells’ ‘repugnant’ comments, it was extremely positive to learn that Pride had grown yet again this year and that the people of Belfast, and indeed Northern Ireland, will not stand for bigotry. Belfast Pride enables everyone – no matter what orientation, sex or creed – to come together and celebrate equality and diversity.”

Alliance Youth Executive 2011-12 – A new Agenda

A new 13-member Alliance Youth executive was elected at the group’s annual general meeting (AGM) on 2 June 2011. This year’s team is stronger, more professional and more diverse than ever before, and benefits from the substantial knowledge and experience each member brings to the table. Among us are: a local government councillor; practising solicitors and voluntary sector professionals; those with backgrounds in management, business development, information technology and communications; and undergraduate and postgraduate students from both the University of Ulster and Queen’s University, Belfast. Individually we have the expertise necessary to satisfy the demands of each office; together we have the vision to bring about real change to the way Alliance Youth operates and, above all, how it works for you.

We have big plans for the coming year, and, with work underway to set up a new presence at the University of Ulster in Coleraine, we’re going to be bigger than ever. We want to encourage you to set the agenda for what campaigns we get behind, by creating an open channel of communication through which you can tell us what’s really important to you, your friends and families. Perhaps you have concerns over rising tuition fees but aren’t sure how to make your voice heard; maybe you or someone you know has been the victim of racism, and you want to take a stand; or you might regret the level of LGBT representation at your school, university or workplace. These issues, and many others, will have affected or will affect many of you, and we want you to have the confidence to speak out and for Alliance Youth to provide a mechanism for doing so. Irrespective of creed, religion or sexual orientation, our team is here to help make your voice heard.

You’ll be hearing more from us in the coming weeks as we formally introduce the team, and try to get a better picture of how you want us to keep in touch and what you’d like to see Alliance Youth get involved with over the coming year.

Let’s make this the year Alliance Youth starts to lead real change for all young people across all of Northern Ireland.

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Chris Lyttle MLA with Alliance Youth members at Queen's University

Alliance Employment and Learning Spokesperson and Alliance Youth member Chris Lyttle MLA has expressed serious concerns that tuition fees deter students from lower income backgrounds from going to university. He said that Northern Ireland has a stronger case for publicly funding university education than other regions of the UK given our economic climate.

Chris Lyttle MLA said:

In Northern Ireland there is a stronger case for funding higher education out of public money than in England and Wales given our economic circumstances. We do not want a class-driven university system where people from low income backgrounds cannot afford to attend. We need to upskill people here and ensure everyone has the opportunity to reach their potential. Higher education is a key economic driver and the system must be adequately funded to ensure the highest possible standards of education and research.

We need to make our universities as competitive as possible on the international stage. We must be able to attract the best students and academics internationally to ensure this sector reaches its potential. We must produce the best graduates and have the best research and development sector possible, and at the same time we must address the real concerns of future students from all backgrounds.”

Universities and students are absolutely central to the future of our economy. Higher education is undoubtedly transformative, both for individuals and societies.

It is important that in difficult times the Executive can change their priorities to help re-balance our economy. We will give all these reports due consideration and I believe that if we addressed the cost of division we could help deliver extra money for higher education and mitigate the need for tuition fees.

We have serious concerns about the impact of tuition fees because we do not want students from lower income backgrounds being deterred from going to university. We believe that university education should be free at the point of entry.

We do however recognise the importance of additional funding becoming available for higher education. We need to ensure the resources are in place to maintain Northern Ireland universities in the higher education top flight but we also need to reform the sector to ensure the best value for money.