Central Mental Hospital: 'We tolerate a system that no other country would'

It is the largest single mental health project in the country. However, in a few years of opening, the new Central Mental Hospital will be full due to the pent-up demand for forensic psychiatric services, reports Security Correspondent Cormac O’Keeffe.

The Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, Co Dublin. The building was originally constructed in 1850. Also known as the National Forensic Mental Health Service (NFMHS), it provides secure beds at high, medium, and pre-discharge levels. Picture: Frank Miller

It is sobering to think that the brand new, and long-awaited, national psychiatric hospital will be full within a few years, such is the demand.

The new Central Mental Hospital, located in Portrane, in north Co Dublin, will increase the number of beds by two-thirds, from 102 to 170.