People urged to "take to the streets" to fight for Tipperary's mental health services

As many people as possible have been urged to take to the streets in Clonmel’s town centre this weekend to highlight what has been described as “the absolutely dire situation” with Tipperary’s mental health services.   

The group Tipperary’s Fight for Mental Health Services has organised a march and rally that will convene at Clonmel’s Main Guard at 2.30 this Saturday afternoon, September 28.

Speaking at a meeting of Clonmel Borough District, Cllr. Pat English requested everyone to support the march to put pressure on the government to restore the services that had been taken away, most notably with the closure of St. Michael’s psychiatric unit in Clonmel seven years ago.

Following the closure of St. Michael’s, all acute in-patient services were transferred to the Department of Psychiatry at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny, which is the designated approved centre for the South Tipperary, Kilkenny and Carlow area.

However Cllr. English said the number of available beds in Kilkenny wasn’t adequate.

He also said he was very disappointed with the responses from Health Minister Simon Harris and Jim Daly, Minister for Mental Health and Older People, to the recent representations from Clonmel Borough District.

In his role as chairperson of Tipperary County Council, Cllr. Michael Murphy said he had agreed that hospital consultant Professor Paud O’Regan, and possibly retired psychiatric consultant Dr. Alan Moore would address the next meeting of the County Council in Clonmel on October 9 in terms of the deficit of mental health beds in this area.

Cllr. Murphy backed the appeal for support for this Saturday’s march.

Cllr. Siobhan Ambrose called for as many people as possible to take to the streets on Saturday because there was “an absolutely dire situation” in Tipperary with regard to mental health services.

She said there was such inadequacy for patients who needed acute beds.

“Our hearts go out to all mental health sufferers and their families regarding the lack of available supports.

“If we need to meet Minister Daly again, well and good”, said Cllr. Ambrose.

District Mayor Garret Ahearn described the lack of acute beds in the county as “a real crisis”, and he also called on people to support Saturday’s march in Clonmel.

He praised local priest Fr.Michael Toomey, from Ss Peter and Paul’s, who met with Minister Daly in recent months, for having done a lot of work in this regard.

Cllr. Ahearn said he had also met Minister Daly the previous week and highlighted the situation in Clonmel, where more beds and resources were needed.

The Mayor said that services like Jigsaw (Youth Mental Health) were needed more in Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir than the rest of the county.

He also said that the Crisis House in Clonmel would be very important.

In a letter to the Borough District, Health Minister Simon Harris said that the permanent Crisis House would be a ten-bed facility that would be developed at Glenconnor Road, Clonmel.

“This project has been included in the Health Service Executive’s capital programme for 2019 and has been given priority status for commencement in early 2020, with an approved capital budget of €1.75 million.

“Currently there is a crisis/respite facility temporarily located at Glenville House, Clonmel.

“This is an eight-bed facility and is used for crisis accommodation and acute  respite purposes for a period of up to 72 hours.  

“It offers an alternative to acute inpatient care for a proportion of service users who would otherwise have been admitted to the acute hospital setting”, the minister stated.    

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