Idea of youth café in Trim discussed 'many, many times"

Dear Sir - The first thing that I would say about ex-Sinn Féin councillor Felix Gallagher"s recent letter is how extraordinarily ill-informed it is. He states that: 'On Trim Council, Councillor Lynch is the only public representative to formally raise the idea of a youth café in the town.' If he had any interest in the work of the council he would know that over four years ago when the new sports complex was being designed, I asked for the design to be changed to include a space that would be suitable for a youth café. With the support of the other councillors (except Sinn Féin) this was done. In fact the issue of a youth café has been discussed many, many times over the last five years and through the hard work of a lot of people outside the council the project is very advanced. Cllr Lynch has not been involved in any way whatsoever with this work. I have worked on many issues in my job that I have never brought into the council chamber. That has been my policy since I became a community development worker with the Family Resource Centre in 2002.The reason that Sinn Féin did not support my proposal on the sports centre is that they were not there to do so. It has been a feature of the last five years that they have left the people of Trim unrepresented on the council for long periods. On 5th June, the people of Trim will decide if they want someone from the Kells electoral area representing them. I might even consider running for Letterkenny Town Council myself. The scenery up there is supposed to be nice. Yours, Cllr Danny O"Brien, Trim