Relief, doubt, trepidation: Owenacurra campaigners hope HSE delivers on promises

Appropriate accommodation within the Midleton locality is being sourced for residents, and new 10-person facility will be built to help others on the grounds of Owenacurra itself

Save Owenacurra campaigner Maureen O' Sullivan: 'There is no clear guarantee that the services that were in place will be continued.'

The recent commitment by HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster to engage directly with the Department of Health on behalf of the residents of the Owenacurra mental health facility brought with it a sense of finality.

Since the HSE announced suddenly in June 2021 that Owenacurra was to close within three months, the number of people living in the 24-hour staffed mental health facility — most of whom had been there for decades — has fallen from 20 to just six residents.