Sinn Féin MP Paul Maskey today praised youth, community and voluntary workers for their tireless efforts in west Belfast over the last number of weeks keeping young people away from anti-social behaviour.

The West Belfast MP was speaking after convening a meeting of local community and youth workers, community police officers and other statutory bodies and agencies.

Paul Maskey said:

“We organised today’s meeting to review our response to recent sporadic anti-social behaviour in west Belfast which has occurred over the past while.

“I’ve been engaging with statutory, voluntary and community organisations, and local residents to achieve a resolution to these issues for many months now. 

“These activities by a small number of young people are not representative of our community and are in stark contrast to the hugely positive work that is being done to continue the positive transformation of west Belfast. 

“The meeting included key local people who have been central to the community response and who will be continuing to have a presence on the ground in the coming weeks to keep young people safe.

“I want to use this opportunity to appeal parents and the young people themselves to not get caught up in this kind of behaviour which could have a really detrimental impact on their future and lead to a criminal record.

“Youth and community workers have played a fantastic role on the ground in recent weeks, going above and beyond their call of duty to keep anti-social behaviour to a minimum. These workers are pillars of our community and deserve every praise. 

“Sinn Féin will continue working hard with the local community to keep our young people safe.”