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Members of the Tír na nÓg Youth Club with parents and Cllr Norma Foley at the KYDS on Friday last. Photo by Dermot Crean
A NEW youth club formed last year by parents of secondary school children, has proved so popular that they are starting a second group for September.
The Tír na nÓg club based at KDYS in Tralee was the brainchild of parents Lisa Martin and Catriona Kennedy who found that their teenage girls wanted to go to discos, but were obviously too young and to offer them a safe place to socialise at weekends.
They put the call out last September asking parents to get involved in the new youth club and the response was fantastic.
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“We started in October with 25 kids and later that went up to 32. So we’ve had a successful year, to the extent that we will be setting up a second club in September and we have a waiting list for that already,” said Lisa Martin.
The club is affiliated with the KDYS with meetings held there and parents and children can use the facilities.
Parents had to be Garda-vetted and had to take the KDYS Induction Training, a nationally recognised programme, to cover the basics of youth work. Parents attend on Friday nights on a rota system to supervise meetings and outings.
“The parents have been fantastic all year. We can’t do this without them,” added Lisa, who also thanked Cllr Norma Foley for her help and advice in how to apply for funding.
Among the events they went to during the year were six youth discos, the Halloween horror trail in Knocknagoshel and an outing to Munster v Connacht in Thomond Park.
The new group will primarily be made up of first years while the other group will also continue to meet every Friday. While both groups are full, Lisa recommends parents put their child on a waiting list because, inevitably, people drop out, so call her (after 5pm) on 087-0931453.
