Unemployment is a continual challenge to all parts of Ireland
Recently the announcement of almost 800 redundancies in a company in the Larne area evoked a message of concern from the Bishop of Connor and the Archdeacon of Dalriada who is Rector of Larne. The company has been one of the major springs driving the economy of the area. Obviously, the effects of its down-sizing will impact on the wider community as well as those individuals and their families who are immediately affected.
The company – FG Wilson – was originally established as a local company and was based on the inventive engineering and entrepreneurial skills of its Ulster-based founder whose name the company bears. Like many other pioneer and progressive companies, in time it was taken over by a multinational. Under the force of world economics – in this case mainly transport and labour costs – it has been forced to move production to the Far East.
Global economic pressures – those long identifiable factors such as wages, location and transport costs – have once again impacted in Ireland.
Most areas in Northern Ireland have first hand experience over the last fifty years of severe local unemployment.
Following the demise of the linen industry, and the almost cancerous spread of the closures of the mills which where the heartbeat of many urban and rural communities, under the guidance of the late Brian Faulkner, then Minister for Commerce in the Stormont parliament, a succession of man-made fibre companies established in the province.
In time they also were forced to relocate, usually in the Far East, in the face of global economic realities. Good companies such as Courtaulds, DuPont, and British Enkalon, were major employers with very responsible and concerned personnel management, whose departure from the province impacted severely upon individuals, their families, and the local communities both socially and commercially. They too were forced to move elsewhere for lower wage levels and other advantages.
This is the reality of living in a global village where emergent economies challenge the practices of the Western world.
There are two critical areas which must be considered in the light of this global economic reality. They are education for employment and emigration.
The economy in both jurisdictions in Ireland in such a world market has no option but to be intelligence led if we wish our people to be employed in reasonably well paid posts. Companies are prepared to establish in Ireland where they can recruit good quality, well educated employees. These companies for the most part are in the IT and pharmaceutical sectors and the larger companies are readily identifiable. The challenge is to produce an educational system which whilst providing choice in arts, nevertheless produces a hard-core of young people who are capable of achieving high levels in the intelligence led economy. For certain if both education systems in Ireland, cannot enable this, upcoming generations will inevitably face unemployment, or lower skilled and lower paid posts if they are available at all.
The enablement of young people to attain relevant educational qualifications at least offers to them transportable skills and the opportunity to emigrate to where suitable employment may be more readily obtainable. The reality must be effectively recognised that good qualified young Irish people seeking employment elsewhere are competing in a world market where educational standards elsewhere have improved and are continuing to improve.
Whilst the church may support individuals and their families who have been affected by the closure of local companies, it must demonstrate that concern in the public place – in its engagement with the agencies of the state, with local councils and above all else with its influence in the educational system.
The church – in both jurisdictions on this island home –needs to acquire a much higher profile and demonstrate a much more responsible style of engaging with this fundamental issue. As well as seeking to influence government policies, the church at diocesan and national levels must demonstrate policies and provide resources which support the parishes affected in their witness. Sympathy and understanding, no matter how genuine, and how well expressed is not enough. The key question is – What effective ministries towards the unemployed will the church prayerfully devise and implement to support its clergy and people for whom unemployment will be a daily and long-term, on-going reality?
Houston McKelvey