Proposed Cork mental health facility a 'blatant breach' of UN convention

Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide said there are no community amenities for people with severe and long-term mental illness within walking distance of St Stephen's Hospital at Sarsfield’s Court, Glanmire

Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide said plans for the €64m unit at St Stephen’s Hospital at Sarsfield’s Court, Glanmire, represent a 'complete reversal' of a move towards keeping people in their own communities.

The Human Rights and Equality Commission is to examine a proposed residential mental health facility in Cork amid claims that it will amount to a "far-reaching, permanent breach" of a UN convention.

Serious concerns have been raised around plans to locate a 50-bed long-stay residential mental health unit for people with severe and long-term mental illness on an isolated site, which has no footpath access or services nearby.