Curragh Youth Project

Background

The Curragh Youth Project is situated in The Curragh Camp, Co. Kildare, which is Ireland’s largest military base. Amenities and recreation for young people within the camp are limited.

There are three main housing areas with the camp, the largest being Orchard Park, a housing estate comprising of 100 houses.

There were two pieces of work carried out in the 1990s by Kildare Youth Services that identified the challenges that young people were experiencing within the....read more

Youth Project Group Profile

We run four structured groups per week as well as informal groups. Examples of the groups are...... read more

• C.G.O.T. (Curragh Girls on Tour)

Youth Workers

The Curragh Youth Project employs one full-time youth worker and is supported by one part-time FÁS CE worker. We also have a caretaker.

Agencies we network with:

• Kildare Community Partnership
• HSE
• Curragh Pride
• The Defence Forces
• Local Schools

Contact Details

Mick O’Brien - Project Leader
Tel. 045 442989

History

There were two pieces of work carried out in the 1990s by Kildare Youth Services that identified the challenges that young people were experiencing within the camp. It also recommended that a youth project would assist young people to face these challenges. In 2001 a pilot Youth Project was set up supported by Action South Kildare, Health Service Executive, Kildare Youth Services and the Defence Forces. Over the past few years the project has run on an ad-hoc basis due to the lack of regular funding. In early 2005 the project secured funding from the Dormant Accounts Fund for two years and in April it employed a full time Youth Worker.

The Curragh Youth Project currently works with 70 young people on a weekly basis. The model of practise is critical social education in which we build young people’s capacity which will enable them to challenge the injustices that exist for them in society.

Our starting point is and must always be the following two principles

• It must be fun
• It must be safe

The project uses a number of ways to work with and support young people. They are:

• Group Work
• One to One Support
• Street Work

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Project Group Profile

We run four structured groups per week as well as informal groups. Examples of the groups are

• C.G.O.T. (Curragh Girls on Tour)
• The Higgs
• The Funky Chickens
• C.B.O.T. (Curragh Boys on Tour)
• G. Unit

Some of the activities the groups are currently involved in are

• Arts and Crafts
• Sports
• Music
• Dance
• Photography
• Group Work
• Video Making
• Drama

We also run groups at particular times of the year

• Summer Programme
• Stepping Stones
• Special Interest Groups

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