College students to stage mass walkout in direct action over Brexit

The colleges are staging the walkout to protest the unwillingness of politicians in Westminster to address the grave concerns young people have about the prime minister’s Brexit deal.

More than 200 students from colleges including Lagan College, Wellington College, Methody College and St Patrick’s Knock are expected to take part in the protest at noon on November 19.

The event is part of a campaign waged across the four home nations of the United Kingdom on November 19 by Our Future, Our Choice (OFOC), a movement of young people campaigning for a People’s Vote, to draw attention to the outrage felt by young people about this bad Brexit deal.

The Lagan College walkout organising committee said: ‘Us politics students at Lagan College have become frustrated with how the politicians in our country and the rest of the UK have ignored the opinions and views of young people regarding the issues of Brexit and other political issues.

We didn’t get the chance to vote on the outcome of our future, so we want to take this final opportunity to express ourselves and our views.

We invite all sixth-year students, staff and schools from across Belfast and Northern Ireland to join us in this movement to have our voices heard!’

The Northern Ireland division of Our Future Our Choice said in a statement: ‘We are a group of young people from across Northern Ireland who been campaigning since the end of August towards getting a People’s vote on the final Brexit deal.’

‘We have grown as a movement and throughout our time working we have been encouraging young Northern Irish people to become involved in politics and allowed them to have a voice. We are delighted to have been able to inspire and support the school students who are involved in this event. They are an inspiring selection of students and we hope that others will be inspired by their actions.’