No place in care unit for suicidal boy

The Ballydowd Special Care Unit, currently Ireland’s only secure facility that provides therapeutic intervention for children with serious emotional and behavioural problems, has rejected an application to take a 14-year-old boy who has tried to kill himself three times.

The north inner city boy has been held in custody for over two months in the Finglas Child and Adolescent Centre amid fears for his safety. He is facing a charge at the Dublin Children’s Court for handling a stolen bicycle, over which the issue of his fitness to plead has been raised.