‘Don’t judge us on where we are from’ – Armagh Youth discuss conflict and social Justice

Over 60 residents from Armagh- young people, youth leaders, community organisation representatives, friends and family were treated to the presentation of the experiences of a group of young men from the Drumarg and Mullacreevie estates.  The special evening was the outcome of an exchange of visits with Sheffield youth at the fringes of gang violence, visits to the miners and Chilean exiled community of Yorkshire, England and four days of filming their own views, and the views of local residents in the neighbourhoods where they have grown up.  In this premiere of ‘The Tunnel’, the stubborn issues of unemployment, conflict, sectarianism, and the poignant view that, ‘people don’t come together to do things any more’ stood out from the work the young men have done and formed the basis of the questions that they presented on the night in a panel discussion of the Economic and Development Officer for Armagh District and City Council and Head of the Youth Service.  Ably supported by the SPRING youth project the youth deserve praise for organising, preparing for and hosting this event that has, by all accounts, left people with a lot to think about and, we would hope form the basis of future action on very pressing issues.