Plans to create outdoor activities for teenagers

The council is being urged to examine ways to provide children and teenagers with better amenities in the county town.

Cllr Niamh Brady (FG) received unanimous support for her motion at the September meeting of the Cavan Belturbet Municipal District.

She revealed that the issue was raised with her on doorsteps during her canvass during the last Local Election campaign.

“When I realised the lack of amenities, I was shocked and people keep asking me if there is anything that can be done to improve the situation,” she told those gathered at last week MD meeting in Belturbet Civic Centre.

“I was at an exhibition in the library recently where there was an exhibition of local children’s thoughts on where they live and I really was dismayed to read that some don’t feel safe. I want to find out if Cavan County Council can do anything about this?”

Joining in the debate Cllr Áine Smith (FF) highlighted how she felt there is nothing there for 16 to 18 year olds.

“This problem is not just specific to Cavan Town, it across the whole country,” she remarked before adding that she fully supported the motion.

Cllr Patricia Walsh (FF) pointed to the need for amenities, but also advised of the importance of volunteers to supervise the youngsters.

“Young people need to get outside; they need to be outdoors but we need volunteers for this to work,” she said.

“With both parents working nowadays, they are not able to volunteer. What we need is for parents and children to come together and come up with ideas to deal with this,” added Cllr Walsh.

Belturbet’s Brendan Fay (Ind) told those gathered that, while young people will always find spaces to hang out, the difficulty lies in ensuring those spaces are “safe” for them.

Sinn Féin’s Damien Brady pointed to the huge population of youngsters in Cavan Town.

“Not all kids are into sports either; there is a new community centre in Ballyconnell and funding there for a youth hub, which is brilliant to see,” he added.

Cllr John Paul Feeley (FF) said: “Great strides have been made to improve sporting facilities, in particular, but as Cllr Brady rightly alluded to, not all children want to play sport. Even if they do, they can’t play sport all the time. There needs to be other amenities there for them.”

Responding, Director of Services, Cavan County Council, Brendan Jennings, said the issue was very broad.

He highlighted how Cllr Walsh’s comments regarding volunteering were very valid.

“If we go out into the community for consultation on this, it is going to be questioned because we have had numerous consultations in recent times and indeed much of the youth of the county have been involved in those consultations.

“While sport has been mentioned, we all accept the fact that sport is not everything but there is a plan to get people outdoors and get them involved in activities,” continued Mr Jennings.

“There is a great development plan for Con Smith Park and, while I accept that people do, of course, need to volunteer, funding is what this is all about. We need to get funding and then put the building blocks together where those spaces are, and put the facilities in place for the young people.”

One thing up for consideration is the installation of basketball nets and concrete table tennis.

“This is all about creating a safe space for them to hang out. There are great things happening and of course there is a gap when it comes to that age group of teenagers,” said Mr Jennings.

Cllr Walsh (FF) highlighted how handball is back in fashion.

“This is also something that we could accommodate,” she added before pointing out that the community in Tullacmongan have received funding for a handball wall and everyone is delighted.