Achill youth call

Adults needed for Achill’s teenage kicks

Anton McNulty

ACHILL teenagers have had enough! They are tired of not having anything to do, especially in the winter time, and having nowhere to go to meet their friends. They are tired of having to hang around chippers and being blamed for any damage that occurs on the island. So, they have decided to take action – and are taking it upon themselves to set up a ‘No Name Club’ on the island.
For many young people in their mid-teens, there is little to do in Achill outside of school hours, especially during the long dark winter months. The football season is usually finished and there are few places for friends to meet each other. The No Name Club would offer teenagers the opportunity to meet their friends, enjoy social outings and have great fun in a warm, friendly and healthy atmosphere, without the use of alcohol.
The No Name Club is a national voluntary youth organisation founded to provide an alternative to the pub culture for young people in Ireland. The organisation allows teenagers, especially those in the 14 -18 age group, an outlet where they can meet with their friends in a supervised and secure environment. There are currently four No Name Clubs in Mayo (Westport, Claremorris, Belmullet and Ballinrobe), with over 30 nationwide, and many of the clubs organise weekend trips with other clubs invited to join.
Unlike other youth clubs, No Name Clubs are run and organised by the young people themselves, with the help and guidance of adult volunteers. It is the young people of Achill who have called for the club to be formed and, with the help of Corr Acla, the Community Development Project, they are looking for adult volunteers to get the club up and running.
Graham Sweeney (14) from Achill Sound is one of the teenagers who is keen on getting a No Name Club in Achill. A keen surfer, Graham explained that between the two secondary schools there would be up to 150 students who would have very little to do after school and that would be the main reason for setting it up.
“After school in the winter it is too dark outside to do anything and there is nothing much to do besides watch television. If we get the club we would hope to meet up at least once a week and maybe even twice or three times. A lot of our friends would like to have a facility like this but it is hard trying to get it started up,” he said.
Sean Cafferkey (15) from Cashel explained that whatever the young people want to do they will try to organise, rather than have activities imposed on them by the adults. However, he said that they needed at least seven volunteers to get the project off the ground and if they cannot get them, they will have to forget about the idea of a No Name Club.
So far there has been five meetings to try and get the club started and they have all been well-attended. But as of now only three people have given a commitment to the group to act as volunteers and that is where the problem lies. The function of the volunteers is the promotion of the aims and objectives of the No Name Club, the general management of the club, the organising of entertainment and the commercial management of the venture. They are currently looking for people over 21 to act as adult committee members, because even with the best will in the world on the part of the young people the success and failure of the club lies with the adult volunteers.
Pamela Doherty, the Co-ordinator of Corr Acla, said there is a great urgency and drive by many of the young people to make the No Name Club a success. She said that Achill has all the natural resources needed to have a successful No Name Club and other clubs around the country would love to visit a weekends.
“With the No Name Club in Achill they would be able to organise discos, talent nights, trips to the cinema, indoor football and other events which are difficult to organise at the moment. We have some great natural resources that would be very attractive for other clubs to come to and maybe hold national events.
“The sad thing is without adult volunteers we cannot get started and it would be a pity because there are young people here who really want to get it started. They have shown their commitment and now it is up to the adults to show their commitment to the young people of the area.”
If anybody wishes to get involved in setting up the No Name Club on Achill they can contact Pamela Doherty of Corr Acla at 098 20842 or e-mail achillcdp@eircom.net.