At first, they didn’t know why they were there.

When I arrived at Tiglin’s Aftercare Programme in Greystones to deliver a module on Sustainable Community Development, I was met with blank stares and blunt honesty.

Some participants, like Gerry, told me outright: “I don’t see how this is useful to me”. Others said they planned to return to trades and couldn’t see how learning about community development would fit into their lives. For a few, the idea of anything resembling formal education brought a visible wave of unease.