Could there be a “real benefit” to mandatory national service for young people? 

Over the weekend, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said if the Conservative Party is re-elected then it will reintroduce national service for all young people. 

Teenagers will either have spend a year in the British Armed Forces or doing voluntary work for one weekend every month. 

National service came to an end in Britain in 1960 - 15 years after the end of the Second World War - but there are a number of countries in Europe where it is compulsory for young people to spend time in the military.

Speaking to Lunchtime Live, listener Eddie said an Irish model rooted in community service is worth considering. 

“I actually think there is a real benefit to it,” he said. 

“I wouldn’t necessarily couch it in the terms the British Prime Minister couched it but I think there would be huge support for a scheme in which young people were asked to contribute two hours a week on a voluntary basis. 

“However, rather than being seen as something mandatory that if you don’t do it you’re going to be punished, I would prefer to see it couched in a much more positive way that if you give up two hours a week over the year, you will be rewarded by, for example, an additional 25 points in your Leaving Cert. 

“Or if you wish to apply for a job in the Civil Service or the wider public service that it would be taken into consideration.” 

Irish troops. Photo:Leah Farrell/Rollingnews.ie

Eddie said a more formal model would benefit those teenagers who already volunteer and would like their efforts to be recognised. 

“It may help young people who do want to volunteer but maybe are under pressure to… be studying in sixth year five nights a week,” he said. 

“I think getting them involved in their community is as important as getting those extra points. 

“I know many young people who do volunteer and get a lot out of it but I just think the State in some way should recognise that as well.” 

An Irish Army Guard of Honour. Photograph: Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie

Another listener, Cathal in Cork, said he thought compulsory service flew in the face of what volunteering should be about. 

“I think the idea of mandatory volunteering is a bit counterintuitive,” he said. 

“The idea of volunteering is that you sign yourself up for it and that reflects [well] on you. 

“That when you look at someone’s CV then you’ll go, ‘Oh, he did volunteering, he took time out of his own day.’ 

“I think if you make it mandatory you kind of devalue people who would volunteer regardless of if you have to do it or not.” 

Any form of compulsory military service is unlikely to apply to Northern Ireland; in the First World War a failed proposal to extend conscription to Ireland in 1918 was so unpopular that historians credit it as a significant factor behind Sinn Féin’s landslide victory in the General Election that year. 

During the Second World War, young people in Northern Ireland were again exempt from conscription. 

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Main image: An Irish Defence Forces arm patch of a soldier. Picture by: Andy Gibson / Alamy Stock Photo