Every December thousands of young people from every corner of the world come home to spend time with their families in Fermanagh for Christmas. They do the usual rounds; going to Blake’s of the Hollow for a pint with the people they went to school with, catching up on the local gossip, going for a few walks with the dog to appreciate the nature this county offers. And then, come January, they all leave again.

Why has this place become nothing but a Christmas pit stop for the young talent who grew up here? Why do the vast majority of us feel the need to flee Lakeland County as soon as we get those A-level results, unlikely to return again for more than a summer break? This place shouldn't be a place we run from or a place we return to only on the holidays. This is home, so why don't we feel welcome to stay? For me, the ongoing conversation around South West Acute Hospital and its issues epitomise this debate. The SWAH was meant to be a brilliant opportunity for Fermanagh; state-of-the-art facilities and research. Hundreds of young doctors, nurses and equally brilliant healthcare workers finally had a reason to be here, to imagine a future where they could progress in their careers and build a life in the place they grew up.

But inevitably the dream could only last so long. Piece by piece the funding was pulled out of the SWAH and these state-of-the-art wards were shut down. This is symbolic far beyond what it means for the health of Fermanagh’s people; it shows that really there are no new options here, and there is no place for young people to grow. As sad as it is to admit, no one cares about us here. Our semi-existent government doesn’t want to invest in Fermanagh, we have no new opportunities and even less investment to create them. Our teenagers are brilliant, genuinely brilliant minds are curated here; every year we see extraordinary exam results come out of all of the schools in the county, but then most of them leave. We have incredible potential to nourish this brilliance, if even half of young people felt the desire to stay here and that it was a practical option, we would soar. There is creativity skill knowledge and leadership bursting out of the walls of each and every classroom, but we chase them away because we aren't able to sustain their brilliance.

Once you get a taste of life in a bigger city or even a town with reliable transport networks, it's difficult to return to a place with no trains and the biggest tourist attraction being ‘The Big Asda’ in Enniskillen. It is important for young people to know that they are missed when they leave. Sometimes it feels like there is resentment towards the youth for ‘abandoning’ their home, but rather than judging them for leaving we should give them reasons to stay. Local football teams can’t keep people here forever, and you can’t build a life around it. The young people of Fermanagh are brilliant; they are wonderful additions to communities across the world, but they would be wonderful additions to ours as well. They should not be shamed for not wanting to come back permanently, but they should be shown empathy for the lack of opportunities they see here. There are many different parts to a failing system, and blame is impossible to cast on any individual part, but we can start with our attitudes. Welcome them home and show them it's good for more than being cooked a warm meal with vegetables and having someone to do their washing for a week. Fermanagh’s population is ageing, the future of our culture and our community lies in being a place people want to live in and that all starts with us. We are known to be friendly, to be a warm and inviting community; we need to start showing that to one another. To my fellow young people coming home for Christmas, I know it’s tough to suddenly need to get a lift everywhere and not be able to rely on public transport. I know there are no good nightclubs in Enniskillen for you to enjoy New Year’s Eve, I know these streets are filled with people who knew you intimately during your awkward 16-year-old phase and who you never want to speak to again.

I know it feels small and hopeless and no matter how badly you want to want a life here, it just doesn't feel possible right now. I hope it gets better, I hope we want to stay someday soon, and that one day we will dream of a life Fermanagh can offer. But until then, we’ll all be home for the next few weeks and we can grab or pint or something then to catch up, yeah?

originally published by Impartial Reporter, December 2023 ; available here