Things are on the move in Killarney. A prototype youth centre appropriate to the new millennium is being established. It is going to be something special and the first of its kind in the Republic.
The centre is being developed by the Kerry Diocesan Youth Service, which has spent almost 30 years working with youth projects and focusing particularly on second chance education and issues such as social exclusion. This will be no ordinary centre. With ground space of some 2,437 sq m, it will offer childcare facilities; youth drop-in facilities; a cafe with performance and exhibition area; a youth information centre and library; workshop, meeting, arts and crafts rooms; a sound and recording studio and a residential floor with workshop rooms for training groups, etc.
The Irish Province of the Franciscan Order has had a presence in Killarney since 1448, and offered its residential building in the heart of the town to the KDYS. The building is valued at £4.5 million. But it will take a further £2 million to transform it into the centre being envisaged.
The mixed community of Franciscans, two sisters and eight priests, is planning to build a new house not far from the old building, close to the Great Southern Hotel, where it will continue to play an important role in the community, despite dwindling numbers. Its gift to the KDYS offers a remarkable and generous opportunity and one that has been grasped thankfully by the group. The planning application for the centre is progressing and it is anticipated work will begin next April.
The completion date is scheduled for next year.
The KDYS has 50 full-time employees and some 400 volunteers. It works with more than 80 youth projects in the area and is in contact with 4,000 young people each week. Once the new centre has opened, 20 staff will move in immediately to administer all of the KDYS activities in Killarney and south Kerry. The proposed centre has been backed by the European Youth Council as a major European millennium youth initiative.
Fr Caoimhin O Laoide, one of the remaining friars, says the decision to hand the friary over to the youth service was made in the Franciscan spirit because the remaining community was aware of the needs of young people in the town. Since 1872, the building was the novitiate centre for the Franciscans' Irish Province. This function has moved for now to Guildford in Surrey.
"We felt it was the best use of the building, given our circumstances, and it dovetailed with the Franciscan ethos. We were happy to make the building available. But it is important to point out that the transfer of the friary does not signal the end of Franciscan church services in Killarney. Our adjoining church will continue to be one of the seats of worship and prayer for the Killarney faithful," he added.
The building of a new house for the remaining Franciscans would not have been possible were it not for the sale of a nearby football field, also owned by the order. But their gesture, says Killarney Fine Gael senator Paul Coughlan, "is a magnificent one", and one that other land and building-rich orders might follow to help alleviate pressure on local towns and communities, striving to find a way to tackle the housing backlog, etc.
Senator Coughlan says he is not suggesting a free-for-all give-away and makes the point that if surplus church land or properties were made available at reasonable rather than speculative prices, much good could be achieved.
The Killarney Diocesan Youth Service will have its new centre thanks to the Franciscans and their selfless gesture, and will benefit from some of the finest facilities on offer to any youth organisation in the State.