But when 400 second-level students of Dublin's commuter-belt counties were asked what exactly they wanted from the community, they surprised everybody with their No. 1 request – They simply asked for : youth cafes. These young people were not making over-the-top demands, they were not 'asking for the moon' : They just wanted a premises where they could meet friends.

The participants in this Government study called Youth Attitudes hailed from Kildare, Wicklow, Meath, Louth. Not being city kids, they depended on what each local town and district had to offer. The idea of the youth café is outlined by Caroline Cullen (of Naas Youth Programme for Development): "It will be somewhere they can sit and chat…a place for them to socialise". It will be "a place that is safe". It will be "free from alcohol and drugs". It will be "warm and clean" (Leinster Leader). Not exactly 5-Star, then – but fit for purpose. And the entertainment laid on will be basic also: a pool table and computers – with some punters keen on making coffee, and watching DVDs.

"There is a real need for youth cafes in these places", says Senator Dominic Hannigan who coordinated the survey. "The key message is that without these facilities people end up hanging around street corners, and drift into anti-social activity. It's about keeping them away from delinquency".

The youth café idea, however, also scores highly among young people who have experienced delinquency at closer range. Many of these have been contacted by the Youth Advocacy Programme. And some report: "If there were more youth centres, we wouldn't get into trouble so much". In their efforts to gather with friends, they first discovered that local playgrounds were taken over by drug-dealers. Next – thrown onto the streets – they found themselves targeted by hooligans. So there was only one final refuge : "Youth cafes and youth centres…are good, but there aren't so many of them". (Sylvia Thompson, Irish Times).

What amazes me about the spread of youth cafes, is the way in which their popularity turns on its head the accepted stereotype of "steady adult" and "wild teenager" – Because the youngsters are showing themselves to be more mature than their elders on many fronts…

The young people are, for instance, willing to 'settle for less' : Almost any old building will do as a premises for them, if only it can be refurbished. (And the Government is now reputed to own a lot of town-centre buildings which are lying empty). Meanwhile, all these years it was the adults who were splashing out – on amenity extensions to the home, and on 'leisure centres' in the towns!

The youngsters are willing to 'settle for less' transport-wise also. Once there is an attractive gathering-place, they are content to cycle there (although they would appreciate the removal of VAT on bicycles – as in the scheme, already in place, for adults who cycle to work).

Maybe it is the adults who have forgotten how to navigate themselves without four wheels!

Then the youth cafes are strictly 'No booze – All chat'. How many of the adults would still know how to survive in that set up ? – where they would have to actually pass time with other human beings, before first lubricating themselves with alcohol!

Come to that, how many of today's adults have "time for people" in any case ? Were they not, for too long, passing one another by in the rush to make a quick buck ? Yet here are the kids just wanting to while away time together, to simply be with one another.

In fact, right there we have a picture of human 'flourishing' : of what it is, just to be human. If people are 'looking out for one another' – instead of cutting across one another to gain an advantage – what results is : thriving human community.

And that is why, too, the commandments of God are not just a list of negatives (things you must not do): if the commands are being carried out, human beings are growing together into 'family'.

Which is why, finally, one of those commandments instructs us to observe faithfully God's day of rest. We are to stand back from work once a week; we are to take our minds off the 'what' of our work – and we are to look at the 'who' of our human lives…We are to enjoy company, community, family – and we are to raise our minds to God. He set all this up – And he is the one to see that the best of it never comes to an end.