Employment problems and social unrest in inner city Dublin
Rioters on Dublin’s streets on 25th February 2006 were ostensibly protesting against a march sponsored by Northern Unionists. But the profile of many of them fitted that of the typical “football hooligan” responsible for street violence in other countries – a figure often hailing from the ranks of unemployed or low-paid young men.
Certain housing estates in the Dublin region have a concentration of this population – as does the Docklands area of the inner city. Young adults here see the better positions in society going to others, and they consider themselves disenfranchised. In a competitive labour-market, and lacking educational attainment, they have lost out. And this educational deficit, in turn, often came about because home and family were unable to provide the necessary financial or emotional supports.
To retrace that cycle from its beginning…At root, the problem is often transgenerational – with the effects of poverty in the home environment being reinforced by relationship break-ups, substance-abuse, involvment in crime.
In the Docklands area, early school drop-outs are twice the national average. In 1996, 42% left school at 15 or earlier (the figure for the Dublin region being 26.1%). As regards Third Level education, the deficit is even starker : here, a local child is eight times less likely to get to college than a child from certain southside suburbs. (Comparison by postal-district goes this way : In inner-city Dublin 1 and Dublin 10, 20% and 10%, respectively, continue on to Third Level : in Dublin 18 and Dublin 14, 73% and 79% continue on). It should be noted that on state per capita spending on education, Ireland is below the 0ECD average; and that the country spends less on Primary and Second Level education than on Third Level.
In the Docklands area, unemployment also is twice the national average – and is 64% higher than in the whole Dublin region. Moreover, as the goods-production sector has yielded to the “services” sector – with the rise of the “knowledge economy” – employment prospects for those with low educational attainment have diminished further. In the Docklands area, over 3.7 times as many residents than elsewhere are employed in the Unskilled Manual category. The Professional And Managerial category here accounts for only 14.9% of the work-force (whereas in the Dublin region it accounts for 30.5%).
The young adult population of the Docklands and inner-city area cannot but be aware of Ireland’s new-found wealth – and of the fact that they themselves have been side-lined by reason of their social and educational background. (The richest 10% of our population now hold 9.7 times more wealth than the poorest 10%). These young males must feel that life is passing them by; small wonder if, presented with a candidate for provocation such as the “Love Ulster” march, they lash out.
Tina MacVeigh is a Teaching Fellow in the School of Applied Social Sciences,
35 Lr Leeson St
Dublin 2
Ireland
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