For almost 2 years now children and young people across Northern Ireland have been growing up without a functioning local government, as their families deal with one of the deepest cost-of-living crises in living memory. As poverty levels rise and public services flounder, restoration of a working Executive at Stormont is more critical than ever.

Parents wait in desperation for an urgent fix to a broken childcare system, cash-strapped schools make cuts while getting on with the job, children languish on waiting lists for mental health support and families get into debt while trying to meet hefty school uniform bills.  We need a restored Executive that is willing to bring practical change for children, turn its attention to the rising level of poverty and centre policy making around the needs of the most vulnerable.

Peter Bryson, head of Save the Children NI said: “We’ve waited too long, our children deserve to be placed front and centre of policy making; their future depends on it and they need to be listened to!

“We have been seeing new levels of desperation from many families that our community partners work with. On top of that the Community & Voluntary sector has been shouldering the burden of Stormont not sitting & it is feeling the pressure like never before. 

“There is now no time to waste, we need to see tackling poverty prioritised by our political leaders.  They need to deal with realities and make alleviating the real strain families and children are experiencing their top motivator.”

For further information contact: 

Jude Hill-Mitchell, Senior Media Manager Save the Children NI - 07462117789