Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When we look across our cities we see fantastic work is being done by youth workers and we really need to support them. A few weeks ago I met representatives of Galway City Partnership to discuss their work in the Headford Road area of Galway centred around Ballinfoyle, which draws in community members from neighbouring estates in the city as well as areas just outside the city such as Carrowbrowne. Galway City Partnership has identified this as a disadvantaged area but with fewer community resources when compared with other disadvantaged areas in the city. In particular, they are trying to improve community resources for children, which is a fantastic initiative. As there are not currently many spaces and opportunities for children and teenagers to socialise outside of school, they have a particular focus on that.

As a result of this, Galway City Partnership established Ballinfoyle youth activities project, which aims to provide free activities for children from the ages of five to 16. Since its launch in January 2024, it has engaged with 240 children living locally, and currently engages with 80 children every week which is fantastic. It also has 40 children on its waitlist. It is looking to expand what the project can offer and make sure they can put it on a sustainable footing in terms of a funding model. That is why I wanted to raise the project with the Minister of State because that is with we need to look at when talking about these issues.

Ballinfoyle youth activities project also did a survey of the area and the teens interviewed responded that there was not much to do apart from hang around bus stops and outside the local shop. The teens feel they are just seen as being up to no good, whatever that might mean, and that kind of message can be internalised by them. The project wants to be build a sense of community and pride in the youth and keep them engaged with activities and events around their community.

One of the young people involved told me that a lot of trouble comes from people sitting around and doing nothing whereas in here you are actually doing something. They are doing their theory tests and doing up CVs, which is setting them up for jobs and setting them for driving as well. That is getting their lives sorted and the project is actually helping the young people do that, and they are more motivated to do stuff in the project.

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