§ This report sets out the results of an evaluation into the Inter-Isle Forum for Political Youth Wings organised by St. Columb’s Park House. The objectives of the programme are: To promote the values and practice of democratic pluralism; To develop a sustainable process that will broaden the world-view of the delegates at an early stage in their political career; To create an inter-party network; To explore issues of common concern, and empower young party members to contribute to policy development within their own parties at a local, regional and inter-regional level; and To facilitate the development of future political leaders who are comfortable with the dynamics of inter-regional politics and policy formulation.

§ The politics of Northern Ireland have clearly shifted to the extremes in the last election, which provides an important context for the delivery of this initiative. The grant to the programme was £120,900 of which £100,000 was funded by Atlantic Philanthropies and £9,000 from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.

§ The project involved 6 Inter Isle Forums and 6 North South Forums to discuss themes issues including regional development, poverty, European politics, racism, international terror, the Good Friday Agreement, climate change, drug and alcohol policy and fair trade. The Forums were held in the 5 countries, involved 23 political parties and organisations, 241 participant attendances, 37 speakers and 30 workshops.

§ The sessions provided an opportunity for respectful engagement of young political activists and developed competencies in listening, argumentation and presenting political cases in a discursive setting. The Forum meetings provided an opportunity for participants to prepare position papers on multiple issues, not just the traditional constitutional future of Northern Ireland. The Forum has benefited from the excellent work and dedication of the coordinator, who has maintained and built a delicate network over the life of the programme.

§ The survey with participants showed that it has increased their understanding of other political parties, built their own substantive knowledge of policy issues and created new political alliances and networks independent of the Forum. An illustration of this was the Young Women Talk: Participation and Power Conference held in October 2004. The survey also showed that the sessions were well organised and stimulating, the speakers were excellent and the visits high quality in the attainment of the programme objectives.

§ The Mid-Term review found that DUP and Sinn Fein were underrepresented in the Forums and tended to concentrate on Inter Isles and North South events respectively. Some of the Forums were repetitive, with a particular focus on poverty and anti-poverty strategies. However, the staff worked effectively to increase the representation of both parties, broaden the range of issues that were addressed by the Forum meetings and improve the quality of the position papers for each session.

§ The evaluation showed that the project had achieved the objectives set for it and that this created new and challenging political discourses, which is especially relevant to the emerging political landscape in Northern Ireland. It has produced new relationships, built tentative trust and understanding, broken down misunderstandings and created firm political alliances beyond the work of the Forum. However, without this formal support, the tentative network that has emerged will be difficult to sustain. The project needs further support but the model of delivery may be rethought by the organisers and participants. A more task based approach to specific policy issues, with a firm output in mind, might provide a more meaningful and directive approach to the development of the concept, especially in improving the quality and impact of youth wings in Northern Ireland, in Britain and in the Republic of Ireland.

1. Introduction

Purpose of the Ex-Post evaluation

1. In August 2004 we set out the Mid-Term evaluation (MTE) of the Inter-Isle Forum for Political Youth Wings organised by St. Columb’s Park House. In this report we follow the same methodological and conceptual approach but frame the research as a formative evaluation in contrast to the summative orientation of the Mid-Term. In other words, here we are primarily concerned with the Ex-Post Evaluation the final outcome of the project and its legacy for political development and networking within and between Ireland and Great Britain. Where there are difference between the Mid-Term and the Ex-post analysis these are identified, especially where there are areas identified for change or improvement in the August review.

2. The proposal for funding for the Inter-Isle Forum explained that the central objective is “to explore areas of common concern, and to enhance the contribution of participants to policy formulation in their own parties”. The Forum is designed to meet in each of the five jurisdictions and all parties with elected members and who are committed to democratic pluralism were invited to participate in the programme. Each party appointed two members to the Forum, but to ensure that there is continuity in delivery each party was asked to assemble a panel of four named substitutes (the panels were encouraged to reflect gender and ethnic balance, as far as this is practicable).

Objectives of the Inter-Isle Forum

3. St. Columb’s Park House points out that inter-regional dialogue and co-operation is integral to the current peace process.

Young party members as potential future leaders are a critical peace-building constituency, and should be afforded similar opportunities for inter-regional engagement as their senior party colleagues (St. Columb’s Park House, Proposal, p. 2).

4. The objectives of the programme are:

§ To promote the values and practice of democratic pluralism;

§ To develop a sustainable process that will broaden the world-view of the delegates at an early stage in their political career;

§ To create an inter-party network;

§ To explore issues of common concern, and empower young party members to contribute to policy development within their own parties at a local, regional and inter-regional level; and

§ To facilitate the development of future political leaders who are comfortable with the dynamics of inter-regional politics and policy formulation.

5. The detail of the programme of events is described later in the report but the idea was to conduct six Inter-Isle Forum (IIF) meetings and six North-South Forums (NSF) held in the different jurisdictions over a two-year time period. (This evaluation reports on the first 11 events). The programme is managed by a Programme Development Worker at St. Columb’s Park House under the overall accountability framework of the Board of Trustees.