Breaking the cycle - Education is the key

IT is tragic that statistics tell us that four of every five young people sent to St Patrick’s Institution will re-offend.

Social campaigner Fr Peter McVerry has warned that the absence of rehabilitation programmes is at the root of this vicious circle.

The institution has an unenviable reputation for violence and drug abuse so anyone sent there faces huge challenges to break out of the cycle. The claim that only 50% of the young people sent to the facility can read or write is an indication of the challenge facing the institution and the residents.

Even in these dark economic times every effort must be made to provide these young people with the education needed to change their lives.