Angry political spat over Trim youth café

There was an angry exchange between Labour councillor Danny O"Brien and Sinn Féin"s Caroline Lynch at last week"s meeting of Trim Town Council over plans to open a youth café in the town. Cllr O"Brien said he had recently been to the 'Gaf" youth café in Galway and that things had moved on substantially regarding setting up a similar venture in Trim. He went on to say that he had received phone calls following a report in the media about a youth café being set up 'as Gaeilge'. 'I don"t like this thing where Sinn Fein misrepresent what goes on here and take ownership of a process that had nothing to do with them up to now. It does not surprise me. They are the most devious, corrupt organisation that I know. The way they go on is reprehensible,' said an angry Cllr O"Brien. He asked anyone who had 'any respect for him as a councillor not to go near Sinn Fein in the elections'. Cllr Lynch responded that Cllr O"Brien did not have ownership of the idea of youth café and said she had met with Gaf years ago in her own professional work and that she had produced a publication that she had shared with Cllr Trevor Golden, Cllr Jimmy Peppard and had met with council officials. 'I resent the fact that I am not allowed do council work because I am with Sinn Féin. I didn"t know another group was working on it. I am more than happy to join that group,' she said. Cllr Lynch said she had established a youth café in 2005 using RAPID funding and said she resented the fact that Cllr O"Brien was suggesting she had no expertise. Cllr O"Brien responded by saying 'don"t misquote me' adding that he had never suggested she couldn"t do the work. Cllr Lynch said she lived in a Gaeltacht area and doesn"t see anything wrong with a youth café 'as Gaeilge'. She said they had supported the youth cafe in their community grant scheme and that it was a young social innovators group which wanted to establish it.