Mr. Martin McMullan:

Youth Work Ireland is under pressure to deliver targets. There is pressure on us to get young people into employment, get them educated and get them into third level education and so on. We talk about youth cafés, drama, music and all the things young people love to do, but we are not getting to do that because as a deliverer of youth work, our work is focused on that target-driven culture. This places pressure on people to become something rather than just on being together and enjoying being together. A recent BBC Radio 2 programme, "Pause for Thought", pointed out that the purpose of life is having a purpose. Young people just enjoy being together and being happy. That happiness, contentment and positivity breeds the sort of confidence we have mentioned and inspires them to get involved in other things, like education and employment. As a youth sector, we need to be more inspirational. We must get out there and have positive conferences and seminars rather than heavy doom and gloom. We must be more positive in the sector and inspire people to move forward for a better future for this island.