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THE RESIDENTS OF two care centre facilities in Midleton that were flooded and sustained substantial damage during Storm Babet are still living in alternative accommodation two weeks on.
Thirteen elderly residents from Midleton Community Hospital are being cared for in Heather House, which is fifteen miles away.
The remaining residents of the Owenacurra centre, which has been earmarked for closure by the HSE, have been relocated to a nearby hotel.
The 24-hour mental health centre once housed 19 residents, but is now home to only six, as people have moved to nursing homes, other centres and larger hospitals, in some cases.
Since the closure of the centre was announced in 2021, relatives of residents have led a campaign to keep it open, as it is the only service of its kind in East Cork, and has been home to some residents for many years.
Now, relatives are concerned that the evacuation of their family members due to flooding may lead to the permanent closure of the Owenacurra centre.
Repair works have not begun at the centre, but the HSE has told The Journal that the damage to the building is currently being assessed by professionals.
Maureen O’Sullivan’s brother Michael is a long-term resident of the centre. The 59-year-old has lived there for 12 years. He has dealt with a serious mental illness since his late teens, and later became homeless.
Since the closure of Owenacurra was announced (which the HSE has stated is due to structural issues with the building) Michael has struggled with the idea of having to move outside of Midleton, and to a new environment.
Maureen said that on the day Storm Babet hit, Michael was coming back to the centre from an art class when a nurse stopped him at the door and told him that water was coming into the building and the electricals had been damaged.
“They acted very fast in getting the residents to the Midleton Park hotel, and both the Owenacurra staff and the hotel staff have been wonderful, and have gone to great lengths to make sure the residents are comfortable.
“But our big worry now is that the centre may not reopen. We are not going to allow that to happen, it’s imperative that Michael and the other residents are able to return to their home,” she said.
Local TD Pat Buckley said that Babet was the “perfect storm” for the HSE to potentially “finally remove the rest of the remaining residents from the Owenacurra respite centre”.
“We now have officially lost all of the 20 long term respite beds plus the two short term respite beds, and all of the associated services that were once provided in the Owenacurra centre,” he said.
Buckley vowed to continue to fight to have the mental health service reinstated to its former capacity.
“God knows where these residents will end up now. I hope it is not St Stephen’s Hospital, because that will mean we are going back 70 years in time with the services we are offering people with long term mental health conditions. We need services at the highest level in East Cork,” the Sinn Féin TD said.
The Midleton Community Hospital was also substantially damaged during the flooding, and needs to be repaired and sanitised thoroughly.
One community hospital source said that only one section of the hospital was damaged, and that staff are travelling to Heather House to continue providing care for residents.
“It’s a tough situation, but we were glad that the residents were not moved to another community hospital further away.
“They had to be evacuated, because part of the building was completely destroyed with flooding.
“Staff are able to go and care for the residents, so they are still seeing familiar faces amongst the new ones,” they explained.
They said that the move has been difficult for residents and their families, as many had relatives who lived close by and were able to “pop in” and see them on a regular basis.
They added that some workers are taking public transport to reach Gurranabraher, where Heather House is located.
A spokesperson for the HSE said that three Cork Kerry Community Healthcare services were impacted by the flooding in Midleton.
These include the two centres and the McAuley Day Centre, which is home to public health nursing clinics, and has since reopened.
The HSE said that the Midleton Community Hospital residents are comfortable and being cared for by the same team. It added that the building is being assessed, and that it aims to have it open “as soon as possible”.
The HSE said that the damage to the Owenacurra centre building is “being assessed”.
It thanked staff from all facilities, and the Gardaí, emergency service personnel, council workers and volunteers who have all helped to ensure the delivery of frontline health services in Midleton.
During Storm Babet two weeks ago, over 100 properties, including businesses, homes, and care centres were flooded, and people had to be rescued by emergency service personnel and army soldiers, who used small boats to navigate flooded streets.
Since then, the Government has announced an emergency relief fund for home and business owners – the first payments from the fund were made this week
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Greed.
@Moses: You just call out my name
And you know, wherever I am
I’ll come runnin’
To see you again…
@Moses: It’s perfectly reasonable. You can’t be going around looking at stuff for free. I live in quite a scenic area and the other day I saw some fella looking at some lovely things, bold as brass. I was having none of it. Stood in front of him until he left, so I did. Cheeky git.
We have done this lovely walk many times.(And contributed to the local economy by staying in a bnb and purchasing locally). I would not pay to walk again.
@Fiona Liston: Plenty that will. We don’t need ya
@Luma plex: I’m assuming you’re joking. If not, you think it’s ok to charge people to walk in the fresh air ? And people give out about expensive Dublin ? Clare will become the new rip off place to visit.
Very surprised the comments are open on this article…..the articles for commenting on are getting fewer by the day for some reason !
@Jb Walshe: After seeing some of the comments that were deleted before closing the comments on the article about the memorial to national soldiers I can understand why comments are not being open on all articles.
@Roy Dowling: Example?
@I’m Far Right: the most notable one was using Veradkers sexuality to attack him instead of just saying he shouldn’t have been there. No need for it and probably the reason comments were closed
@Roy Dowling: That sounds awful. Hopefully Leo didn’t see it. Poor wee lad.
@Jb Walshe: those debunked articles are hilarious, usually overlook plenty of facts to suit the explanation and comments are closed in case they’re rumbled.
@I’m Far Right: Ah so you are one of those. Don’t know who I’m surprised
@Fintan Stack: this is the real reason. Talk about how much you like Coldplay all you like, but don’t come here to discuss serious topics and expect not get censored at some stage by the blatantly biased Journal.
They must be in trouble if they’re asking for handouts in the middle of an article.
@Journal Snowflake: …and without so much as a reach-around.
@Fintan Stack: Well don’t read it if you don’t like it! There are plenty of other Irish news sources if you don’t like The Journal’s values. It’s free. What’s the problem? You pay for what you get.
@Journal Snowflake: yes, we’re the fourth richest country in the world, our worst off are 60% better off than the worst off in the UK, and somebody with four dependent kids who chooses never to work can get state supports including housing that equate to a salary of more than 50k before tax. Our medical care and education are free, older people get a pension even if they never contributed to one, along with free travel.
So yes, we’re being screwed, we should kick out our centrist governments and replace them with the IRA.
(Or the weird lad with all the gold bars).
Greed, greed and more ******k8n greed. What a sham of a country we have become.
@Charles Mc Carthy: It is not the ordinary people who are greedy but it is those few fat Greedy Councilors who firmly believe that it is their job to relieve people of their hard earned money. I haven’t visited the Cliffs since the council began charging for parking. None of my children have never visited the Cliffs. How many people who live within ten miles of the Cliffs will never visit the them?
@Seán Ó Maoildeirg: your kids are missing out. Park in Doolin old village for free, it’s 5 mins walk from walk to Cliffs of Moher, spectacular views along the way – although probably takes 90 mins at least to get to O’Brien’s Tower
I remember when there was just a car park at the Cliffs of Moher. No charge……. no bother at all. Then the greed started to kick in. I haven’t been back since
@Johannes Baader: you had a car back then? And you’re still driving? Respect!
Yeay capitalism !
@Alex Kane: You don’t understand what capitalism is.
@Alex Kane: Capitalism was the farmers who decided to use their own property as carparks and undercut the council one in price by a huge percentage. That was kind of cool huh? That’s the free market approach but the government doesn’t like the free market competing like that, so they shut down the competition. In short, capitalism was providing a good solution here and the quasi socialist government stopped it.
Boycott these activities and let’s see what happens when no money is getting in.
Comments closed for the protest at Cork City Library. What are you afraid of, Journal? Free speech?
The boom is back baby……greed is good
And what about Lahinch and Lehinch
All these objections are falling on deaf ears. It’s a long long way from Clare to hear
Well done to the protesters in cork
They’ll be charging to get in to O’Connors or McGanns next.
Nothing wild about the wild Atlantic way
@eoin fitzpatrick: It’s wilder than your one bed flat in dcc
Maybe they could raise the local property tax instead?
Clare locals should stick to farming and stop moaning. They’re our cliffs now.
@Luma plex: Your cheque is in the post.
Thieving c$$ts
Questions….
Surely stopping to drop someone off is not a parking violation…?
Can the double yellow lines be appealled ..positive action is needed.
I was one of the fools that had to pay e12 a person as there was 4 of us in car . To walk along in the rain with the THOUSANDS of others . 1% of them IRISH . 99% TOURISTS. They won’t let u stop the car anywhere near to let people out . As marshalls out moving traffic and ticketing ppl. They even charge u to go into the tower now . So basically rip off ireland at its best . 2 hrs at the cliffs . E48 entrance . 4 Coffees e16 . The rain free , definitely a Mastercard movement.
No one should be charged to walk on a cliff.
No one should be charged to drop someone off.
And there should be a legal maximum to charge people to park their cars.
How absolutely ridiculous.
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