6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa
6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa
6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa
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particularly str<strong>on</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Greece has to be put <strong>in</strong> another perspective for the sector of youth<br />
work. Most youth workers are professi<strong>on</strong>als with a higher educati<strong>on</strong>. The professi<strong>on</strong>alisati<strong>on</strong><br />
rate <strong>in</strong> the field of educati<strong>on</strong>al or social services is higher than <strong>in</strong> other areas of youth work.<br />
10.5 Ireland<br />
Data base:<br />
Five municipalities of the East Cork area were selected to report about the socioec<strong>on</strong>omic<br />
scope of youth work at local level <strong>in</strong> Ireland:<br />
� Midlet<strong>on</strong>;<br />
� Youghal,<br />
� Cobh,<br />
� Glanmire and<br />
� Carrigtwohill.<br />
East Cork epitomises Ireland’s transiti<strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong> microcosmic form. It is an area undergo<strong>in</strong>g rapid<br />
transformati<strong>on</strong>, with a populati<strong>on</strong> growth of 13.7% between 2002 and 2006. East Cork is at<br />
an <strong>in</strong>termediate phase <strong>in</strong> the process of its <strong>in</strong>corporati<strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong>to the metropolitan life of Cork<br />
City – reflect<strong>in</strong>g Ireland’s sprawl<strong>in</strong>g city phenomen<strong>on</strong>, which is evidenced by the ambiguous<br />
borders between town and country. East Cork is ‘terra<strong>in</strong> vague’ and for its grow<strong>in</strong>g youth<br />
populati<strong>on</strong> it is often a ‘n<strong>on</strong>-place’ or a series of ‘n<strong>on</strong>-places’ <strong>in</strong> the form of satellite towns that<br />
somehow seem decentred from the urban world but no l<strong>on</strong>ger part of rural life. It is<br />
symptomatic of the loss of the great urban-plann<strong>in</strong>g ideals of urban design and rural<br />
susta<strong>in</strong>ability. Social disadvantage is a significant issue.<br />
The local structure of youth work could <strong>on</strong>ly be studied from a qualitative po<strong>in</strong>t of view<br />
because of the absence of an <strong>in</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong>alised youth work sett<strong>in</strong>g. There is an embry<strong>on</strong>ic<br />
youth service <strong>in</strong> a state of emergence, but it is too early to quantify its achievements. The<br />
volunteer base of the structure and the lack of professi<strong>on</strong>al <strong>in</strong>put, relatively speak<strong>in</strong>g, limits<br />
records. However schematic data is provided <strong>in</strong> a table below.<br />
F<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs:<br />
Accord<strong>in</strong>g to a report commissi<strong>on</strong>ed by East Cork Area Development (2007) and coauthored<br />
by Mary McGrath and Deborah Lynch, which had an overall resp<strong>on</strong>se rate of 702<br />
young pers<strong>on</strong>s aged 13-15 years from the five municipalities (Midlet<strong>on</strong>, Youghal, Cobh,<br />
Glanmire and Carrigtwohill) and twelve schools, the local situati<strong>on</strong> reflects the nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
picture of <strong>in</strong>adequate youth work services. McGrath and Lynch (2007: 21) asked young<br />
people <strong>in</strong> their survey where they went if they went out. Resp<strong>on</strong>ses showed that 82.2%<br />
spend their leisure time ‘hang<strong>in</strong>g-around’ [with friends] when they go out (see Table 36). This<br />
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