Church asked to hand over property to house elderly

A Fine Gael minister has called on the Catholic Church to hand over buildings and land to house the elderly.

Abandoned convents, parish halls, and other Church-owned buildings should be converted into new residential hubs for older people, which would also rejuvenate town and village centres, says the minister of state for older people, Jim Daly.

Mr Daly, who is working on alternative options to nursing homes, including a supported model of housing for older people, believes the Church could offer up many of its unoccupied or underused buildings.

Jim Daly

“One of the objectives in terms of caring for the elderly is to develop single residential units for the elderly who want to leave their homes but still want to live in a place called home,” he said.

The Cork South West TD has said many elderly people do not require the intensive care of a nursing home but often feel vulnerable living at home alone in isolated areas.

He wants to roll out more community-focused hub developments and step-down facilities which would be serviced by the HSE but would allow elderly people to live independently.

Mr Daly has now called on the Church to carry out an audit of its land and buildings to ascertain what could be handed over to the State for elderly residential use.

He cited McAuley Place, a former Convent of Mercy in the heart of Naas, which now consists of 53 self-contained one-bedroomed apartments, a tea room open to the public, a community centre, and arts and culture centre which is available to host weddings.

“It contains an arts and culture centre, a garden, cooking facilities where the residents can, if they like, cook collectively, where people can do it themselves rather than simply live in an on-site tea-room,” said Mr Daly.

“Such centres are also ideally to be placed near town centres. These buildings are often located beside a school so the residents hear children every day. The ethos is one of wellness, independent living, and activity.

“The Church should do an audit of their disused properties to see if they have sites that could meet this purpose. We are not talking about reparations, but the Church continues to have a moral duty to atone.

“Such centres, and semi-state locations too, could form the backbone of a new transformed elder-care system.”

As the population ages, the Government is looking at a number of new models to provide care and accommodation to the elderly.

In November, the Government held an expert conference on housing for older people at Farmleigh House, Dublin.

Its purpose was to bring together experts who are working to provide the kind of housing which allows people to age with dignity in a home of their choice and where necessary, to provide supports in accordance with the objectives of Rebuilding Ireland.

The departments of health and housing are now working on a policy framework on older persons’ care following on from this conference.

Blueprint model

McAuley Place, a multi-purpose centre which caters for the entire community, could become a blueprint for a different model of accommodation for older people.

The first resident moved into the former Convent of Mercy in the centre of Naas, Co Kildare, in June 2011 and the centre now has 53 self-contained one-bedroom apartments.

However, key to the centre’s success is the emphasis on opportunities for lifelong learning with the arts central to this policy, ensuring social inclusion for older people living there and for the wider community.

As well as the apartments, which provide an alternative to nursing home care, McAuley Place contains the Convent Tea Rooms, which is open to the public; an arts and culture centre; and a community centre.

Local artists can exhibit and sell their work in the lobby and the display is changed regularly.

The arts and culture centre is used by the community for music, dance, film, and other activities.

The community centre hosts a wide range of classes, courses, and events, and the building includes a sound-proof music room.