Eleven young people from Northern Ireland travelled to London recently to act as representatives for Northern Ireland in the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) sitting at the House of Lords.
The UKYP was founded in 1999, enabling young people to voice their opinions and influence decisions taken by the major parliamentary political parties.
Established by former MP Andrew Rowe, the Parliament is made up of constituencies representing different regions of the UK and there are three hundred Members of the Youth Parliament (MYP’s).
Constituencies work towards presenting their own proposals for the parliamentary sitting. Eventually, the six most popular proposals are debated and voted upon by MYP’s. The three most popular become the focus for national campaigns for the following year.
This year the floor of the house witnessed debates about climate change, lowering the voting age to sixteen, tuition fees, subsidised transport for young people, fairer representation of young people in the media and establishing a more specific age at which young people are deemed to be adults.
Northern Ireland MYP Mark Stevenson from Belfast said of the historic event, “The House of Lords was absolutely spiffing. The Lords Speaker did a superior job although I felt the event was very England-centric as the MYPs chosen from the floor were mainly from England. The possible reason that Northern Ireland wasn’t widely acknowledged or involved this year was because the seating arrangement lumped our region with Scotland’s MYP’s”.
Another Northern Ireland representative, Ben Mallon, who sits on the Procedures Group of the UKYP, felt strongly about the university tuition fee debate, “It was my favourite because I wanted to hear the viewpoint of the people who were for it”.
After the landslide victory of the climate change campaign, which considered the importance of recycling, Ben said, “A very strong argument was put forward and that is why it came first. I personally do agree with it as it is everyone’s responsibility as a global citizen regardless of colour, class or creed to make a difference to protect our planet.”
Speaking after the event the Lords Speaker, Baroness Helene Hayman, who chaired the debate said, “The quality of the debate today has been fantastic. We don't hear the sounds of clapping in this Chamber often. What really impressed me was the courage of people who stood up and took a position which was not the view of the majority - and the respect that you all showed to everyone's viewpoints."
MYPs will now develop the top three campaigns at the UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting in Exeter in July.
About this story
This story was written by Ruth Smyth, 19, from Belfast. Ruth is also a Member of the Youth Parliament (MYP).
"Scary and intimidating"
When I first heard about the trip to the Youth Parliament in London, I was very interested because I had never heard of anything like it before.
Although I’m not all that interested in politics I still think that every young person should have a chance to have their voice heard. So I decided that I should join the Youth Parliament.
We got to London the day before the sitting at the House of Lords and were very well prepared for the next day. I found myself just as excited about visiting the House of Lords as those in the group who were more inserted in politics than I am.
Although I was excited I must admit it didn’t seem as great a place to me as it did for most others, it was very museum like and, dare I say it, a bit boring.
The Northern Ireland contingent sat in the main debating chamber with three hundred other members of the Youth Parliament from all over the UK.
The Lords Speaker, Baroness Hayman, chaired the debates and although at the start I thought she was great by the end of the day I found myself very annoyed at her. She seemed to think that the only people who had something worthwhile to say were from England. Northern Ireland, if we were lucky, got a chance to speak if those present from English regions didn’t have any more to say.
She also seemed to talk to the young people in a very non adult way. To be honest, a little patronising.She said things like “don’t be naughty” and would stop us and tell us how and when to clap.
Overall I enjoyed the day, even though I didn’t take the opportunity to get to my feet and actually say anything. In truth, I felt a bit scared and intimidated in such a big place. Still it was a great experience in many respects, apart from Baroness Hayman,
It’s not every day that three hundred young people get to take over the seat of government and I wish everyone could have a chance to join the Youth Parliament.
About this story
This story was written by Sonya Gorman, 18, from Belfast. She is also a Member of the UK Youth Parliament.