There was good news this week in Mayo with the announcement that €100,000 will be invested in youth facilities in two towns in the county. Both Castlebar and Ballinrobe were selected as two of 30 locations across the country for new youth cafés in a list that was announced by Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald as part of a total package worth €1.5 million.
An Taoiseach Enda Kenny said: “I strongly welcome this announcement today by Minister Fitzgerald. These cafés will provide a safe, alcohol-free place for our young people to meet and socialise. The wellbeing of this particular demographic is of the utmost importance to the Government and our commitment in prioritising that is clear.”
The Ballinrobe Youth Café will be based in the Maple Youth Facility on Bowgate Road where a drop-in facility, counselling service, and various supports are already offered to young people in the area. The Castlebar branch will be based on the site of the old post office in Mountainview, which was acquired earlier in the year by the Castlebar Community Development Association (CCDA ) and is now set to be used as a multi-service youth centre where Foróige will be based and a wide range of support services will be provided.
Foróige services in Castlebar include the Castlebar Neighbourhood Youth Project (NYP ), a partnership between the HSE and Foróige providing support for young people experiencing personal, social, or educational difficulties and the Big Brother Big Sister Community and Schools Mentorship Programmes. Foroige has almost 3,000 members in 55 clubs across Mayo.
The Taoiseach went on to say, “I would encourage all of our young people to fully utilise these cafes once they open and indeed to fully utilise the two centres — Ballinrobe now and Castlebar when it opens — as a place in which to try something new, talk out a problem, or just make new friends.”
Fine Gael TD John O’Mahony also welcomed the news saying, “I am delighted that the Minister For Children and Youth Affairs Frances Fitzgerald has seen fit to provide this assistance. Both cafés provided invaluable support to the young people of Ballinrobe and Castlebar, and this injection of cash will allow them to continue their great work. Youth cafés have proven to be of immense benefit to the communities they serve but they need vital financial support to survive.”
The €100,000 investment in these two cafés comes on top of the annocument of €117,648 for sports projects in Ballina and Swinford by Minister of State Michael Ring.
