THE GOVERNMENT has agreed to provide €1.5 million to fund a network of youth cafes across the State to provide teenagers with a safe place to “hang out” which is free from drugs and alcohol.
There are currently about 30 youth cafes in the Republic, which provide a place for young people to meet, relax and play games. A lot of the cafes also provide counselling, health services and family planning advice to young people.
Lewis Quinn (20), who now volunteers at the Squashy Couch cafe in Waterford, said: “There are times as a teenager when you get depressed. I used the counselling services at the cafe in Waterford when a few of my friends died from suicide and accidents when I was in my teens.
“The cafe was a really important place for me to go and chat with people without any judgments being made about me,” added Mr Quinn, who attended yesterday’s launch of the Government’s youth cafe policy, which was promised in the programme for government.
Minister for Children Barry Andrews said the policy was “far-sighted” given that it was being delivered despite the downturn in the economic environment.
Youth cafes are seen as an increasingly important place to help teenagers build social skills, develop relationships with their peers and adults and steer clear of getting into trouble on the streets.
They are well-established in countries such as Britain, the US, Australia and New Zealand, according to a report published by the child and family research centre in NUI Galway.
Cormac Forkan, a co-author of the report, said youth cafes should be open to a wide range of young people from different backgrounds. Cafes could help people with few problems and those in need of long-term support.
The child and family research centre at NUI Galway also published a youth cafe tool kit yesterday. This provides practical advice on how to fund, manage and establish cafes, which will appeal to young people.
Research by NUI Galway shows the most common age group attending the youth cafes are 12- to 18-year-olds.
The Squashy Couch cafe in Waterford, which was one of the first in the State, was set up in a converted townhouse. It estimates that 10,000 teenagers have passed through its doors since opening, some coming from as far away as Cork and Clare to access some of its services.
The cafe funding scheme will be administered by Pobal (an intermediary that works on behalf of the Government to support social inclusion and equality), which will provide details on how to apply for funds this week on its website.