'This will save lives': Cork’s new Solace Café officially opens 

SOLACE CAFÉ, a HSE-funded out- of-hours support service for those experiencing mental health difficulties, was officially opened today in Cork.

Minister of State with responsibility for Mental Health Mary Butler opened the service, which is at 22 Sullivan’s Quay, saying: “I know for a fact that this will save lives.” 

The official opening was attended by Lord Mayor of Cork Kieran McCarthy, along with members of the HSE and Cork Mental Health Foundation, who collaborated on the project.

The need for the crisis cafe arose from the ‘Model of Care for Crisis Resolution Services’, which recognises that when individuals experience a mental health crisis, it often happens outside of the regular working hours.

Solace Café provides a safe and welcoming service for people over the age of 18 to avail of brief, person-centred, intensive supports in a timely way to assist the person in their recovery journey and to seek to offer an alternative response to inpatient admission, where appropriate.

HSE national clinical adviser and group lead for mental health Dr Amir Niazi explained that the centre is the first of five planned such cafes in the country, saying: “Cork has always taken the lead in these initiatives.”

Dr Niazi added: “This will be a learning site, so we can see if we have to make changes before the national rollout — this knowledge is not available in books, we learn from people delivering and receiving services.”

Ms Butler shared how pleased she was to open the centre, saying that her dad was from Drimoleague in West Cork, “and there’s no one prouder today than he is looking down on me”.

She said: “There is no health without mental health — it cannot be pushed aside,” she said, adding “being in politics brings a lot of challenges and social media abuse, but days like this make it all so worthwhile.” She explained that a similar service in Galway has seen a reduction of 18% of referrals to emergency mental health services, saying that early intervention was key and it was important to have places like the cafe “front and centre, not hidden away”.

Ms Butler added: “In 2022, we lost 411 people to suicide, and 331 of those were men, but two-thirds of those who avail of support from Pieta are female — men aged 30-55 find it really hard to reach out and say they need help. There are people who die from suicide who never avail of any services, so places like this where you can just ring and say, ‘Can I come in today?’ are so important.”

The team at the cafe consists of a manager, service co-ordinators, peer connectors, volunteers and administrative staff, who provide personalised support plans.

Since opening in July 2023, Solace Café has provided support to over 376 people. Of these, 206 received social support and 107 received peer support.