AN innovative new project aimed at giving young people hands-on experience of a car before they get behind the wheel has been launched in Letterkenny.
District Judge Paul Kelly officially cut the ribbon on The Garage Project at Pinehill Industrial Estate on Tuesday evening.
Garage is a six week course that enables teenagers to get below the bonnet and see how a car works. Under the tutelage of mechanics Denis Ferry and Leslie O’Donnell, the young people receive lessons in the dangers of modifying cars and get to see just how vulnerable vehicles actually are. It is hoped the course will encourage them to consider their behaviour as they set out on their own driving journeys.
An EU funded initiative involving a range of agencies, Garage is an off-shoot of the hugely successful Pro Social road safety initiative. Started in Donegal in 2012, Pro Social is geared towards re-educating drivers who have come to the attention of the legal system as a result of their on-road behaviour.
The first ten graduates of the programme received their certificates on Tuesday night from Judge Kelly.
“From my point of view, I tend to see people after the event when they come before me having broken the law,” said Paul Kelly.
“This course is a way of helping young people not come before me and if we can achieve that in even one case then it will have been a success.
“In my experience no one ever goes out to cause an accident. There are a variety of factors – bad judgement, bad choices, intoxication, bravado, loss of concentration – and if one life can be saved or one serious injury prevented, then this course will have achieved its goal. I hope it prevents people from coming before the courts and encourages driving in a positive way. It will also give young people new skills and opportunities in terms of work. It won’t be wasted.”
Judge Paul Kelly who launched the Garage Project on Tuesday night in Letterkenny.
Paul Kelly was one of the pioneers of the Pro Social course along with Garda Inspector Michael Harrison and Probation Officer Tim Coughlan. All three men were in attendance at Monday night’s launch where it was revealed that the rehabilitation programme has now been embraced across six counties, Mayo being the most recent.
It is hoped that 60 people per year will sign up for the Garage Project. Donegal Youth Service has been tasked with recruiting the teenagers and the second wave of the project is already fully booked. Mechanic Denis Ferry said he was looking forward to helping improve safety on Donegal’s roads.
“When the young people come to us we do an induction and a safety briefing. From there we show them how tools operate, what the tools are for, we familiarise them with the garage, show them what clothes they should wear. After that we take them under the bonnet and explain things like where the oil goes, things that everyone should know but that many people don’t.
“We also impress upon them how vulnerable a car is. You often find young people cutting the springs to lower their vehicle so we cut the springs on a car, put it up on a lift and the springs fell out. The message we are trying to get across is that car manufacturers have spent millions designing these vehicles. Some fella with an angle grinder in a shed somewhere is not going to make it better.”
Inspector Michael Harrison told those gathered that one of the first fatalities he attended after taking over as Donegal’s traffic officer was that of two young men who were driving a car where the springs had been cut.
“John Canning was the coroner at the time and he asked if the cut springs played any role in what happened. He was told it was like trying to control a boat, there was absolutely no stabilisation. When those two young men lost control, God rest them there was nothing they could do.”
Ryan Cunningham, one of the first graduates of the Garage Project. Ryan has embarked on his first driving lessons and hopes to pass his test later this year. He says the course has been invaluable in teaching him about road safety.
Inspector Harrison said the scheme will be instrumental in improving Donegal’s road statistics.
“I know Leslie and Denis and this is something they have been looking to do. This project will be of great benefit in making our roads safer and in instructing our young people and I want to thank everyone involved in making it happen,” he added.
While the next Garage Project course is booked, spots will be open in the very near future. Any young person looking to sign up should contact Donegal Youth Service Recruitment Officer Frankie McGreevy on 07491 29630.
The Garage Project is supported by the European Union’s Peace IV Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).
The Peace IV Programme has a value of €270 million and aims to promote peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the Border Region of Ireland.
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