Young Enterprise NI funding cut with immediate effect

Young Enterprise NI, a charity which helps young people learn business skills, has said its funding from the Department of Education has been cut with immediate effect.

The £550,000 grant represented more than half the organisation's typical annual funding.

It said the cut will have a "significant impact" on its work.

The department has been implementing a series of cuts as it tries to prevent a repeat of last year's overspend.

Stormont officials believe they will need to find £800m in cuts and revenue raising measures across all departments in the wake of a budget imposed by the secretary of state.

Judith Totten, chair of Young Enterprise NI, said: "The charity recognises the difficult public sector funding situation following the publication of the Northern Ireland 2023-24 budget.

"However, we are clearly disappointed that the support for the enterprise, entrepreneurship and financial education of young people is being impacted in this way."

The funding cut comes just weeks after the charity was recognised by US President Joe Biden in his speech at Ulster University marking 25 years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

He was introduced at the event by a participant in one of Young Enterprise's programmes.

'Deeply regrettable'

Cathal Geoghegan, president of NI Chamber, said the recent budget cuts show the "long-term economic challenges facing Northern Ireland".

He added that the reality of pressures have already "come to fruition" with many organisations facing the "cessation of their funding".

Mr Geoghegan said: "We've heard that the work Young Enterprise, a charity which works closely with the business community to inspire the next generation of talent, is one of those.

"In such a challenging fiscal environment with so many services at risk, organisations in all sectors need the support of effective, functioning and sustainably-funded government."

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said the funding cut risks destroying long-term strategy for growth.

Its policy chair, Alan Lowry said the cuts are "deeply regrettable".

Mr Lowry said that Young Enterprise provides education for entrepreneurs and also "sows the seeds" for those to "become another generation of wealth creators".

"Their programmes give school pupils the confidence and ambition to start their own businesses in the future, but it will be extremely difficult for Young Enterprise NI to continue to provide that level of engagement in the absence of this funding," he added.