Ireland’s growing headline unemployment figures mask a mix of age- and sector-related trends.
But for all the complexity behind the figures, there is a cohort of young people who simply feel excluded from the world of work.
Just over 5 per cent of the workforce is without a job, according to the latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) labour force survey.
But the picture is much bleaker for young people when it comes to employment: the unemployment rate for those aged between 15 and 24 is almost three times that overall figure. It stands at 14.1 per cent and has risen from 11.5 per cent in a year.
For those aged between 15 and 19, the rate is higher again, at 19.9 per cent, up by almost a third since the end of 2024.
In The Den, the youth service run by the charity Crosscare in Finglas, north Dublin, staff try to help local young people into employment by linking them up with training or further education courses. It is intended to build their CVs and help with preparation for interviews.
Getting them across a table from someone who might hire them remains an enormous challenge.
“You apply for 100 jobs and 95 don’t get back to you,” says 18-year-old Conor Maxwell, who lives locally and regularly comes to the centre, where his mother, Janis, works.
“Three might
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