WALES and Waterford are linked in a pioneering project to give combined groups of young unemployed people a basic qualification and the chance of developing a career.
The Stepping Stone Project involves the Youth Committee of Waterford VEC and the Prince's Trust charity in Pembrokeshire working in tandem on an initiative funded by the European Interreg II programme.
The first group of 14 trainees - seven from each country - is approaching the end of a programme which involved a six-week course in Wales and six weeks in Waterford. During the remainder of this year and next, 56 others, also dole recipients, will participate in the scheme.
The project selects individuals in the 18-25 age group who find it difficult to enter employment or further education for a variety of reasons - social disadvantage lack of education or career opportunity, or lack of confidence and motivation.
In the six-week course modules based in turn in Pembrokeshire and Waterford, they undertake intensive training in aspects of creative arts, information technology and outdoor pursuits.
The aim is to deepen cultural links, develop confidence, self-motivation and teamwork abilities, and provide the participants with a relevant cross-regional vocational qualification.
The young people are also offered work experience placements with local enterprises.
The hope is that after the whole course they will at least have a better idea of where they want to go over the next couple of years - whether in education or in work," says Joe Gough, the Youth Development Officer for Waterford.
He adds that after some initial difficulty with regional accents, the young Welsh and Irish get on well together and take up the course work with enthusiasm.
Once they see that there is a plan for them, they tend to get totally engrossed in it," said Mr Gough. Even if some have lost motivation and concentration through lack of opportunity, they tend to get the confidence.
Another Welsh-Irish project - involving Pembrokeshire, the Waterford Youth Committee and Wexford YEC is called CELTTS - the Celtic Eco-Leisure Training and Tourism Scheme.
It provides, on a cross-border basis between the three partner organisations, training for outdoor pursuits personnel leading to a recognised professional qualification after a three-year programme.
This programme tends to recruit people who have had a lifelong interest in watersports activities but who have not had a chance to become professionally qualified. They may be currently unemployed, or working part-time or full-time in the field.
Many people teaching watersports at present are not formally qualified, and the CELTTS scheme will equip its participants with full accreditation to work as trainers in this field almost anywhere in the world. All of those who complete the course are expected to find full-time employment without difficulty.
At outdoor education centres on both sides of the Irish Sea, the trainees undergo comprehensive instruction in subjects including; swimming and water safety; emergency care, sailing proficiency, environmental studies, power-boating and the use of kayaks and open canoes.
Again, in keeping with the intentions of the Interreg programme, the scheme is designed to develop cultural, social and economic co-operation between the western part of Wales and the east coast of Ireland.
These intercultural training schemes are additional to Waterford VEC's ongoing programme of vocational training opportunities for people who are on the dole. At present, it caters for almost 160 full-time students who would otherwise have been among the ranks of the long-term unemployed.