Taoiseach opens redeveloped €7.5m Cork facility for women and children in need

Good Shepherd Cork CEO Allison Aldred, Chairman Brendan Lenihan, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Lord Mayor of Cork Deirdre Forde at the opening of a redeveloped €7.5m Cork facility for women and children in need. Picture: Tony O’Connell.

The Taoiseach has officially opened a redeveloped €7.5m Cork facility for women and children who may be homeless or in need and described the service being offered as a “vital” one.

Edel House, an emergency shelter on Grattan Street in the city that first opened in 1972, is managed by Good Shepherd Cork and offers accommodation and supports for women and children who are either homeless or at risk of being so.

The shelter currently provides emergency accommodation for up to 13 families and 20 single women who are homeless.

The reopening is a further boon for women in vulnerable positions in the south of the country coming a day after approval was granted for a €6.4m new domestic violence refuge in Wexford.

One of Justice Minister Helen McEntee’s key commitments as part of the State’s zero-tolerance policy towards domestic violence is that the number of refuge places in the country be doubled so that every county will have access to such supports.

The Wexford site is the first of 13 priority locations nationwide to commence construction on new domestic violence refuges, with all building due to complete by 2025.

Speaking at the opening of Edel House’s refurbished property and new extension, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he wished to “applaud” the collaboration between Good Shepherd and the statutory agencies in recent years with the aim of deepening the services available to the vulnerable in Cork City.

Good Shepherd Cork chief executive Allison Aldred said the refurbished facility will offer “modern, dignified accommodation” along with a wide array of supports to homeless women and children.

Edel House’s facilities include ensuite single room and one and two-bedroom family units, together with therapeutic and educational spaces.

The first phase of its reconstruction, which saw the fresh construction of a new adjoining building, was completed in April of last year, with the second phase, the refurbishment of the existing structure finished las may.

Good Shepherd Cork said that the facility will provide “a range of practical, emotional and therapeutic supports for women as they regain independence”.

Funding for the €7.5m project was provided by Cork City Council via the Department of Housing.

The charity provides numerous other services within Cork, including the 70-bed Redclyffe Family Hub on Western Road and Riverview Residential Care for teenage girls on North Mall, while Baile an Aoire is Good Shepherd’s long-term supported housing facility — for women who might not otherwise be able to support a tenancy — on Leycester’s Lane.