A lifeline has been thrown to the people who use the services and those who work at the Father McGrath Centre in the city, putting an end to months of speculation over the centre’s future.
In his first official visit to the centre since his appointment to his new ministerial post, Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan made the announcement to an assembled crowd at a lunch last Friday.
Minister Hogan said the government would be reversing the decision of the previous government to scrap funding for the children’s education programme. Fourteen of the centre’s staff have been on protective notice since last Christmas, enduring months of uncertainty over the future of their jobs.
Talks are now being held with the local VEC and it is expected that the children’s education services running in the centre for the last 12 years will now be funded under the School Completion Programme national fund.
The announcement capped off a week of good news for the Father McGrath centre, and for Kilkenny’s community services in general. Earlier in the week it was confirmed that St Canice’s Community Action will also be taking over as sponsor of the Kilkenny Jobs Club.
A recurring theme during the Minister’s visit was that community spirit and the selfless efforts of local people and volunteers had been a huge factor in keeping the doors of the Father McGrath Centre open.
In particular, the Minister singled out the 14 Loreto Convent students whose political activism over the last few months has been an invaluable part of securing the centre’s future.
As part of the Young Social Innovators programme, the transition year students set about raising awareness of the centre’s plight since before the General Election. The girls visited Leinster House to persuade politicians of the importance of continuing the children’s education support services.
“I want to congratulate the 14 Loreto students – the Young Social Innovators – and to tell them that they are welcome to come again to the Dail if they wish,” said the Minister.
The students, who also volunteer as tutors for children in the centre’s catch-up programmes, collected more than 3,000 signatures from Kilkenny people in their petition.
Centre manager, Stephen Murphy, echoed the Minister’s praise of the students.
“Transition year students from Loreto Convent have been working with us for 10 years now, and they act as great role models for the young people coming in here. These 14 girls campaigned and lobbied every single TD, and we are eternally grateful for all their work. You have set a great example and are a credit to your school,” he told them.
Both Mr Murphy and Minister Hogan extolled the work of hundreds of other volunteers who support the project every year, hailing all their hard work and effort.
“I would like to thank the people of the Father McGrath centre for all their great work since 1994. This project was born out of a need to engage in social inclusion, and has had a tremendous outcome for the community,” said Minister Hogan.
“On behalf of the people of Kilkenny, thank you for showing interest in people, for helping people in the community. I am astounded at the number of people who help to ensure that the potential of these youngsters is brought through to full fruition.
In his speech, the Minister also denounced the decline of community spirit during the Celtic Tiger era, and called for a return to old community values and local initiatives.
“We did lose the run of ourselves and it wasn’t good for society. We now need to rekindle the spirit of volunteerism and its lessons for young people. It’s important to remember the old adage, ‘always remember where you came from’. The best hope of survival for community projects is through work like this,” he said.
The 14 Loreto Kilkenny students will travel to Dublin next week on May 11 to hear the results of their entry in the final of the Young Social Innovator competition.
