Tyrrelstown To Lose Youth Officer.

Tyrrelstown will lose its popular youth officer Julie Gosselin at the end of the month because of government cutbacks. Julie has been a fantastic asset to Tyrrelstown over the last two years and everyone is very disappointed to see her go. It is not simply the work she has done with the youth and clubs in the area but the very valuable network that she has built up in a new community of over 4000 people. Minister Lennihan promised before each of the last two elections to provide permanent schools and a community centre for Tyrrelstown. The Department of Education is still dragging its heels on the acquisition of the site, so the least the government could do is to continue funding the youth project.


Julie began working with Foroige in October 2007 to provide youth services to young people between the ages of ten and eighteen in the Tyrrelstown area with a particular emphasis being placed on the importance of integration and intercultural exchange in an area widely diverse in terms of ethnic groups. County Dublin VEC funded the project but warned in March that due to government cut backs they would not be able to continue for much longer.

It is disappointing that the VEC could have allowed something like this to happen. If this project is not continued, the cost down the road will likely be much higher. The youth in the area need the leadership and continuity provided by someone like Julie and any talk of replacing her with a temporary part time worker is simply not acceptable.

Julie will now work on another project for Foroige in Tallaght but she is not looking forward to breaking the news to young people in Tyrrelstown. She had set up were a girls group for 12 to 16 year olds revolving around girl’s health and physical activity and a Friday youth club to cater for 10 to 13 year olds. The popular TYT Youth Café provided a safe environment for older children where they are encouraged to develop themselves and where they take part in activities that constitute a form of informal education.

“Self-development of the young people and their community, actively and consciously is one of the key elements in Foróige’s projects,” according to Julie.