Just in case you haven’t noticed, the country is in the midst of economic turmoil, and the newspapers are filled daily with analysis to make your head spin about who did what, when and why. So I think I’ll spare you the details of what I think should be done, and instead invite you to step inside the life of a political representative who feels that he’s been taken for a ride by a religious order.
Last week I was involved in another row in relation to what I perceive as Governmental cutbacks, but I was afforded only a few minutes to spit fire on Morning Ireland so I’m setting my case out here. It relates to the proposed redevelopment of the St Joseph’s Centre for the Visually Impaired and the closure last week of Clonturk House, a residential facility for elderly blind men.
At a meeting staged last month, the St Joseph’s Centre outlined plans to the local community to redevelop part of its campus in order to finance the rebuilding of its facilities, which are in dire need of repair. But despite the fact that St Joseph’s serves some of the most vulnerable children in the State, the Department of Education has repeatedly frustrated its attempts to redevelop the school, and it has now been forced to prostitute itself – and I use that term deliberately – to the property market.
It is hoped that the proposed development will fund the school building costs of approximately €35m – of which only €15m was provisionally promised by the Department of Education five years ago, with no firm commitment.
It is an absolute scandal, in my view, that some of the most needy children in the country cannot have their needs directly met by the State. What message does it send to the families of those with a visual impairment when this excellent educational facility is forced to gamble in the property market to secure its future?
At the time I called on the Minister for Education to immediately meet with the trustees and board of management at St Joseph’s and to commit to the funding needed to help those children who cannot help themselves. The measure of a civilised society is surely how we serve the needs of our most vulnerable. In this case it is quite clear that the Department of Education has acted in a most uncivilised fashion.
So imagine my surprise, after committing my support to the proposed development, to see that the ‘Communica-tions Clinic’ had e-mailed to inform me that the Rosminian Order – located at the St Josephs Centre – and the Health Service Executive are to close Clonturk House, a residential facility for elderly blind men. This closure means that 13 elderly men between the ages of 70 and 90 will have to be relocated and 24 staff will lose their jobs, as the HSE says it doesn’t have the funds to upgrade the facility.
No mention was made previous to this of any intention to change the status of the long-serving residents, or that they weren’t to be included in the long-term plans for the centre. Some of these residents have lived in Clonturk House for more than 50 years.
I am still demanding a full statement from the HSE and the Rosminian Order immediately in relation to this matter, as well as a reversal of this appalling decision, made in a cruel and underhanded fashion with little regard to the residents, their carers or the families who look after them.
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin is a primary school principal in the Sheriff Street area of Dublin, a member of the Labour Party, and formerly Dublin’s Deputy Lord Mayor. His column appears every week in Metro Éireann
