THE RESIDENTS of Newbridge, Co Kildare, have been invited to a public forum tomorrow to consider measures to combat unemployment and social anxiety.
Newbridge Community Development will invite residents to discuss issues of concern and to consider ways to bring about change.
Newbridge is one of the Dublin commuter belt towns which experienced rapid population growth and an expansion in retail space during the boom.
But now the only growth is in unemployment. More than 9,000 were registered as unemployed in the town’s social welfare office in July, a rise of more than 4,100 on the same month last year.
“The agenda will be set by the topics people want to discuss and it is hoped the forum will allow people to connect with one another and create a new impetus for action and change,” said Jane Mullins, chairwoman of Newbridge Community Development.
The Newbridge Open Forum in the Hotel Keadeen at 8pm will ask the question “How does Newbridge deal with the future” and it will be facilitated by Eoin McDonnell, a Newbridge resident, who runs Oaktree Coaching and Consultancy.
People are invited to register in advance through e-mailing ncdforum@gmail.com. You can get updates on the forum at http://ncdforum.blogspot.com/and follow the forum on twitter at http://twitter.com/ncdforum.