Minister John Moloney will officially open Carrigabrick Lodge on Friday, October 16.

Carrigabrick Lodge is an excellent example of how a Local Authority (Cork County Council), the HSE and a voluntary body (Clúid Housing) can work together to provide a peaceful, secure and homely environment for people with a disability – accommodation that the tenants can call their home.

Prior to the inception of this project, a 14-bed group home for people with mental health problems, Cluid had been working very closely with the HSE at St Stephen’s Hospital in Glanmire, Co Cork to provide a range of step-down accommodation units for people in the community. These included a 5-bed group home and a 3-bed group home which were suited to very independent individuals.
Clúid continues to work with the HSE to provide small group homes in the community and a number of funding applications are with the DoEHLG for schemes in Cork City and Cork County.

The underlying theme in this scheme in Fermoy was to provide a quality living environment for tenants who could learn to enjoy a much more independent life compared to the institutional setting they were accustomed to.

The brief for this project was for a 14-bed residential unit with common living and dining facilities, office and utility spaces, to help foster residents’ life skills in adapting from institutional care to living in the wider community. Consultation took place at an early stage with the HSE to ensure the accommodation would meet the needs of the end users.

The design team consisted of Hudson Associates, Architects, A J Ryan & Associates, Structural Engineers, Matt O’Mahony & Associates, Service Engineers and AKC, Quantity Surveyors. The construction was undertaken by Ed Rice Building Contractors of Fermoy.

Whilst the residents are Clúid tenants, their care and support is delivered by HSE staff. The interface between the HSE and Clúid is key to the success of the project.

Tim Porter, Regional Director of Clúid’s South Western operations has expressed his delight at the success of the project and continuing partnership with the HSE and Cork County Council. But most of all it is great to see the tenants settling into their new home.

Clúid believes that social housing is the platform for social progress – an affordable, secure home is the foundation on which individuals and families can build their careers, their personal networks and enjoy full participation in society.

This is Clúid’s fifteenth year in operation; in the last 15 years Clúid has built over 3,300 homes across 23 counties. All of Clúid’s developments are 100% funded by the DoEHLG and without this funding the 3,300 plus Clúid tenants could potentially still be on the local authorities’ waiting lists, living in overcrowded family homes or unsuitable and often substandard private rented accommodation.