Banner influence on youth cafés guidelines

Clare Youth Service has had a major influence in the formulation of new Government guidelines in relation to the setting up and running of youth cafés.
In commissioning the new guides, Barry Andrews, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, relied heavily on the expertise built up by Clare Youth Service and others in pioneering youth cafés.
Produced by the Child and Family Research Centre from NUI Galway, the guides outline the experiences of youth organisations with a track record in the area of cafés and youth spaces.
They based their recommendations on the feedback from an advisory group, which included Brain McManus of Clare Youth Service.
Additionally, young people who had an input and were consulted for the publication included Cian McKeown, Louise Kennedy, Ailx Kent, Christian Malone, Niamh O’Reilly and Aoife Guilfoyle from CYS projects at Youth Space and The HUB.
This week, Minister Andrews announced details of a national youth café funding scheme of €1.5m and launched guides outlining how to set up and run such a facility.
“These developments respond to the repeated emphasis young people have placed on the need for such recreational spaces.
“They recognise the achievements already made by many groups in establishing youth cafés around the country and ensure a solid policy foundation for youth café development and the expansion of safe, quality recreational spaces for young people.”
Brian McManus of CYS acknowledged that youth cafés are increasing all over the country.
“It is nice to know that many of these are based on ideas tested and put into practice over many years by Clare Youth Service.
“The Green Door, a café-style drop-in first opened 30 years ago and has been reincarnated a number of times during that period, reflecting the personality of the new groups of teenagers involved.
“The present version – The Youth Space – has been running for the past three years and is complemented by The HUB – a drug and alcohol-free café space for young people over 18,” he said.