Social Affairs

‘You can’t bring the street in here’: Dublin youth centre offers ‘safe space’

St John Bosco Youth Centre receives much-needed grant but it may not keep the lights on all winter

St John Bosco Youth Centre in Drimnagh, Dublin. Photograph: Eoin O'Donnell

Eoin O'Donnell
Wed Oct 12 2022 - 20:41

“One of the most important and consistent things over the years is that it can be seen as a safe space,” says manager of the St John Bosco Youth Centre (known as the Bosco) in the Dublin suburb of Drimnagh.

The Bosco is one of the 600 community centres across the country that will receive a €25,000 upgrade and development grant from the government, announced on Wednesday by Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys.

“We’re quite clear on boundaries. When you come in here, it’s about everybody that comes in here, there’s a contract between us for what you can and can’t do… You can’t bring the street in here, or your negative behaviour in here… You’re in an environment that’s structured to be safe” says centre manager Brian Murphy.

Having served the Drimnagh locality for over 70 years, The Bosco has remained an independent, community-owned institution.

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The funds provided by the Government’s grant will go towards re-coating the centre’s roof to prepare for the installation of solar panels later this year, as well as a much-needed re-fitting of the building’s dated plumbing infrastructure.

[ Hundreds of local community initiatives to receive €12.5m funding in new Government scheme ]

Services on offer for youths range from an assortment of sports clubs to mental health services, and a youth café, offering young people a lightly supervised space where they can socialise and feel safe within.

Amidst concerns about increased anti-social behaviour among young people, Murphy’s perception of today’s young people is somewhat more optimistic.

“Whether it’s the 1950s or today, young people always face challenges… It’s not up to youth centres to solve all the problems in the local community”, he says.

“There are negatives for young people today because there are challenges that didn’t exist back then, but it doesn’t mean that the process of maturing toward adulthood is really any different… Young people still have the same concerns, fears, aspirations and hopes that they did.”

Along with services offered by the youth centre themselves, The Bosco’s maze of hallways also hosts language classes, various religious and faith-based groups, and Narcotic’s anonymous meetings. The building is also home to a temporary Philippines consulate, and an outpost of Merchant’s Quay Ireland’s addiction services.

George McCabe, a local and former attendee of the centre’s youth services, operates his gym ‘G-Force’ out of the adjourning building. Their partnership offers McCabe a subsidised space to run his business, while also benefitting The Bosco, and by extension the wider community.

“I’ve been coming here since I was 8,″ saya McCabe, who has sponsored several local sports teams, offering his space to them for training, as well as dedicated weekly classes for those in the youth club and those using the adjoining addiction recovery services. “We’re giving opportunities to the community and keeping it at community prices, that was always part of the deal”.

Even with funding from these grants though, there are issues endemic to running centres like The Bosco. Staffing issues are by no means unique to the community work or charity sectors, but financing the full-time staff needed to clean and operate buildings as extensively used as these is difficult.

“Any help with money towards bills and maintenance is great, but a constant struggle is that it’s next to impossible to get funding for core staff… our Achilles heel is that if I can’t recruit people through the community employment scheme, it’s a huge cost”.

For centres like The Bosco, this winter won’t be easy; cavernous sports halls and the decades-old building means heating was never simple to begin with, but now the centre’s gas bills have increased almost tenfold. Doors across the centre are adorned with signs reminding people to limit the use of heating, and multiple heating timers have been installed across the building.

“Whether people like it or not, we all have to make significant changes”, said Murphy. “We were founding members of the Drimnagh sustainable energy community, and as part of that there was always a plan to reduce our overall emissions… But this year is going to be a challenge”.