Ms Louise Malone:

We had a group of young people were involved in the shared island youth forum. I know that report was launched recently. It looked at things like sustainability, opportunities for young people, diversity and well-being. Whenever we talk to young people and consulting on peace building or reconciliation, those themes emerge all the time: lack of housing in an area where they feel is affordable or safe for them to live in and lack of opportunities through education or employability. Although our numbers for integrated education are pretty low, it is education beyond the school. It is education in our communities and with our youth organisations or youth clubs. Lots of young people with whom we come into contact say they do not address the issues. Integrated education is important but we also need to look at the issues of why you are in an integrated education system and why you have chosen that path. I work in Youth Action NI and am based in our Newry office, which is right on the Border. We support lots of young people in employability and looking beyond Northern Ireland and across the Border to see what opportunities exist. If we are talking about apprenticeships, lots of young people need placements and an employer to take them on to fulfil the criteria to be an apprentice. We are very strong in encouraging young women to go in non-traditional jobs, be they in STEM or trades, and to see these jobs as opportunities in which they can engage, develop their skills and qualify. We are involved in lots of cross-Border projects. Echoing Ms Weir's thoughts on funding, the young people never want it to end. They do not want this to be over. We have produced the report. We know the actions. Let us keep working together. They never want that sort of process to end. They still want to maintain those relationships. It is heartwarming to hear about Ms Weir's relationships with people she met 20 years ago. We would love that for some of the young people with whom we are engaging, that the funding is there to sustain those relationships and those young people can become real champions and leaders and bring other young people along in different youth forums.