Enable Ireland sets €7m funding goal to build state-of-the-art Cork centre

Children’s disability service Enable Ireland is seeking to raise €7m over the next four years after being granted planning permission for a state-of-the-art centre in Cork.

Enable Ireland provides therapy and support services to more than 600 children and young people with disabilities from the Lavanagh Centre in Ballin-temple, on behalf of the HSE. It has said the building is in disrepair and no longer fit to accommodate the needs of the children and families.

The seven-acre site in Curaheen, on which planning permission has been granted, will house a new children’s services centre with a hydrotherapy pool, garden, playground, therapy rooms, and sensory rooms.

“The site will also accommodate a children’s respite house where children with disabilities can develop their independence skills and families can get a much needed break,” said a spokeswoman.

“The location, close to the Curaheen flyover, provides easy access for families and staff. This centre will be state of the art and amongst the best in Europe.”

Enable Ireland chairman Donal Cashman said: “The parents and children who use our services in Cork deserve to have a world-class, modern centre that is custom built to support their needs.

“We have set ourselves the challenging target of raising €7m over the next four years to build this centre, and I’m sure the people of Cork and beyond will get behind us, as they have always done and help make this a reality.“

Enable Ireland said that, together with its partner agencies, it will continue to provide core therapy and support services such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, psychology, and social work.

“The following specialist services will also be provided from the new centre: Feeding, assistive technology, spasticity and tone management, seating, an upper limb assessment clinic, Cork/Kerry orthopaedic clinic, hip and spinal surveillance, casting and GAIT analysis,” said the spokeswoman.

“This new development will help to enhance the delivery of all those services even more.”

Founded in 1948, Enable Ireland provides services to more than 5,200 children and adults with disabilities from 40 locations in 14 counties around Ireland.

Its services for children and their families cover all aspects of a child’s physical, educational, and social development. It also offers a range of services to adults with disabilities.