'Why won't they leave this life-saving service intact': Families refuse to give up the Owenacurra fight

It is now a year since the residents of the East Cork centre were told they would be moved on and there is no resolution in sight

'Improve Us - Don't Move Us'; 'Keep services local' messages from residents of Owenacurra, Midleton, Co Cork as family members and residents brought a letter to the constituency office of Taoiseach Micheal Martin on Evergreen Road, Turner's Cross. L-R: Mary Cahill and Kieran Roche, Mary Hurley, Michael and Maureen O'Sullivan. Picture: Larry Cummins.

Families protesting the closure of the Owenacurra centre in East Cork say the human rights of residents are being “violated” and they still don't know where they will end up, a year into their battle to remain at the centre.

Residents were first informed last June that the centre was going to be closed by October 2021 due to building issues, but that date was pushed back as the HSE couldn’t find suitable accommodation for the 19 residents.

Despite protests from the local community, residents, and their families, in addition to the Oireachtas' health committee calling for the decision to be reversed, the HSE said that it has “no option” but to close Owenacurra based on “advice from construction experts.”

The Oireachtas health committee has formally written to the HSE board to present its view that the decision to close Owenacurra should be overturned.

The Owenacurra Centre in Midleton.

Maureen O’ Sullivan, who has led the campaign calling for the centre to stay open, said that in finding out that one of the remaining 11 residents is being moved to the Sarsfield Court Hospital in Glanmire, she fears that the HSE is “quietly moving out residents one by one and scaling down Owenacurra until it is a shell.”

She was heavily critical of the people behind the closure decision and said many of the residents have "built their lives at Owenacurra and may not be able to cope if they are moved." 

Ms O’Sullivan’s 58-year-old brother Michael has lived at the centre for 11 years. She says that when she sees him now he is always chain-smoking because he is so stressed about not knowing where he will end up.

She says there was no warning about what was coming down the track and that she only found out the centre was to close "through a panicked and garbled phone message from Michael".

Ms O'Sullivan also rejected claims that management and the HSE have been in close contact with residents and families about the next steps.

“The first meeting I had with them was last September. Since then, we’ve received mixed messages from local and national management, and politicians who are failing to hold the HSE to account,” she said.

Michael started to suffer from mental illness in his late teens. After becoming homeless and going missing for years, he was committed to the Mercy Hospital for acute care, and discharged to Owenacurra.

“Micheal needs the 24-hour supervision, otherwise he won’t take his medication, and will go missing again and fall out of the system. Without the service Owenacurra provides, people like him are trapped in an awful cycle of illness and intervention if they manage to survive,” Ms O’Sullivan said.

Cobh woman Mary Hurley’s sister Anna is 61. She has lived at Owenacurra for 25 years and has long-term mental health issues.

“When she first arrived there she struggled to make eye contact, and she couldn’t leave the centre,” Ms Hurley said.

Anna has built a life for herself in Midleton that will be destroyed if she is moved. 

“She has completed an educational course, joined a women’s craft group, and now goes for coffee with friends by herself because Owenacurra is in the middle of town. Those are things I never imagined her being able to do.

“To upend the progress Anna has made would be unthinkably cruel,” she said.

“My sister has diabetes and has survived cancer with the help of the Owenacurra team – they are her family. Not knowing when she will have to leave them has been traumatic,” Ms Hurley added.

Ms Hurley doesn’t yet know where Anna will be re-homed. There have been suggestions of Glanmire or Carrigaline, both of which are far removed from the home she has made in Midleton.

“I don’t understand why they will not leave this life-saving service intact,” Ms Hurley added.

Niecy O'Keeffe is a former service user who speaks highly of the supports she received at the centre. Picture: Larry Cummins

Journalist Niecy O’Keeffe said that ten years ago the treatment she received at Owenacurra saved her life when she was struggling to cope with losing most of her hearing and had to drop out of college at 28.

“Without Owenacurra, I don’t think I’d be here today. It got me through a very dark time. I was living at home just outside Killeagh, and my mental health had deteriorated to a point where I was not functioning,” Ms O’Keeffe said.

“The only way my family could convince me to get help was by telling me that Owenacurra was only 25 minutes down the road, and that I could drop in while they went shopping," she added.

Ms O’Keeffe said that over a period of 12 months, she went to Owenacurra for weekly counselling sessions that helped her turn her life around.

“Without Owenacurra, 90,000 people in East Cork will be left without a dedicated 24-hour mental health service, that has also saved lives through outpatient care,” Mrs O’Keeffe added.

A spokesperson for Cork and Kerry Community Healthcare (CKCH) said that while there has been “significant public debate” on whether it would be possible to refurbish the existing Owenacurra Centre with residents on site “this is not possible and would not be safe.” 

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They further stated that the Owenacurra building is “a pre-fabricated building from the 1970s with a life expectancy of 40 years”. 

CKCH also "cannot confirm” if a resident is moving to Sarsfield Court, but they said that any re-location would be based on their assessed needs.

The spokesperson said CKCH will provide a 10-bed 24-hour residential unit in Midleton that will focus on supporting clients returning “to their homes and communities.” 

“The Owenacurra site will be among the possible locations considered,” they said, adding that they will provide one community residence in Midleton for three to four clients with 24-hour supervision, which some remaining Owenacurra residents could be moved to.

Cllr Liam Quaide, who has fought for Owenacurra to stay open, said that “when families of residents requested an independent structural engineer be appointed to assess the possibility of renovating the centre, their request was refused five weeks later.” 

Cllr Liam Quaide has fought to keep Owenacurra open. Picture: Howard Crowdy

"Taking up the foundations of a service for people with such a high level of need, dispersing those residents and staff for several years minimum, and providing no capacity for other people with similar needs is not a credible or safe service plan,” he added.