Call for dedicated youth worker in Duhallow area

CORK County Council is to write to the Child and Family agency Tusla requesting that a youth worker be appointed to exclusively cover the Duhallow region of north Cork.

The issue was raised in a motion at the monthly Kanturk/Mallow municipal district committee by Cllr John Paul O’Shea (Ind), who said it was something that people had been seeking “for an awful long time”.

“Tusla does have youth workers in Mallow, Mitchelstown and Macroom. However, due to a lack of resources, they only cover part of the wider Duhallow region,” said Cllr O’Shea.

“This is unfortunate, as there are a lot of young people from Duhallow going to school and college who face a myriad of different social issues they have to deal with. The opportunity to liaise regularly with a dedicated youth worker would be vital for some of them,” he said.

Cllr O’Shea said the successful placement of Tusla youth workers in Mallow, Mitchelstown and Macroom had shown just how important they are to local communities.

“I see no reason why this could not be replicated in Duhallow. Given the rural and geographically challenged nature of the region, there is a very clear need for such a service,” said Cllr O’Shea.

There are no shortage of potential locations where a youth worker could be based and it would be great to see one working on the ground with local young people.”

Cllr Gerard Murphy (FG) asked if the existing youth workers in the area were directly employed by Tusla or were working in conjunction with development bodies such as the Avondhu Blackwater Partnership.

Cllr O’Shea replied that while they do liaise with various different organisations, they were employed directly by Tusla.

“There are young workers with bodies such as Foróige, but realistically the Tusla model is the one that deals directly with issues such as anti-social behaviour and drug or alcohol abuse. For that reason, it is my belief that Tusla need to recognise there is a need for a dedicated youth worker in Duhallow,” said Cllr O’Shea.

“This is something that has been highlighted again and again, but Tusla has yet to provide a fruitful solution. I am asking my council colleagues to lend their support to this motion so that this deficit can be properly addressed.”

The motion received the unanimous backing of the committee, which will now write to Tusla with their request.