Ms Mary Nolan:

There is also an issue around snobbery of profession that needs to be looked at. Youth work is seen as the bottom of the scale. Without youth work and the relationship model, nothing else works. Yet, we are the first to go. Community education was completely obliterated out of west Belfast because of a change in title and what level of education community providers could give to the adults to progress. The money just went. The funding was cut and it went to further education colleges. That needs to stop. There is a snobbery within professions. Youth workers need to be treated as equals. Our government needs to look at that because this approach needs to go down through the universities. Youth work should be on par with social work, teachers, lawyers and barristers. Without us changing the lives of some young people, this does not get any better.