12 February 2014
Young people brave storm to stop Youth Centre from closure
"Minister, what about the Youth Guarantee? Will you be able to stand over our closure? Is that how you would value our lovely young people?"
YOUNG PEOPLE from the north Dublin suburb of Kilbarrack braved storm conditions in Dublin on Wednesday to protest outside Leinster House as their project faces closure due to the Government's Budget cuts to youth services.
The protesters were joined by Sinn Féin Senator and Youth Affairs spokesperson Kathryn Reilly and local Councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha to demand Youth Minister Frances Fitzgerald save Kilbarrack Youth Centre from closure.
In a statement, Kilbarrack Youth Centre said:
"Our current deficit is €13,000 and we are being cut year after year. Despite cutting our cloth to measure, there is simply no more cloth to cut. Minister, what about the Youth Guarantee? Will you be able to stand over our closure? Is that how you would value our lovely young people?"
In driving rain and storm-force winds, Senator Kathryn Reilly (pictured with Kilbarrack youngsters) told the young people that she would raise the issue in the Seanad and has pledged to do whatever she can to save the centre:
"We hear all this talk about the Youth Guarantee but there'll be no guarantee for young people if this Government continues to decimate their services," she said.
Councillor Micheál Mac Donncha told An Phoblacht:
"We in Sinn Féin are calling for the cuts to be reversed so this and other vital projects can continue in areas of social and educational disadvantage"
Kilbarrack Youth Centre has operated for almost 20 years in the north Dublin suburb. It serves 90 young people each week who attend educational, sporting, art, drama, life skills and leadership courses. In recent years the centre (along with most other youth and voluntary facilities) has faced Government cuts of up to 35%.
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