Children in care centre felt they ‘had lost the ability to make a cup of tea’

An inspection of the Ballydowd Special Care Centre has found children there now find it “normal” that a metal detector is used during body searches, while other children said they felt they had “lost the ability to make a cup of tea”.

The observations are contained in a monitoring inspection report carried out by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) on Ballydowd, which is one of three special care centres in the country.

At the time of the inspection, conducted over three days last autumn, there were 10 children living there aged between 13 and 17 years, all detained under a High Court detention order — on the basis that they pose a serious risk to themselves or others.