Local elections 2024: Lack of childcare places, services and homes among big issues in Carrigaline area

A LACK of childcare and primary school places, not enough houses and social services, as well as poor infrastructure and heavy traffic.

These are the key issues facing the people of Carrigaline and the lower harbour region in 2024.

“We currently have 60 parents fighting for 12 places for their children,” says Dee O’Brien, Manager of the Heronswood Childcare Centre, in the Heronswood Estate.

She says the problem lies with recent changes made by the Government.

“I feel we are not being listened to. Last year we closed the centre for three days and went to Dublin to protest outside Government buildings, but nothing has changed.”

Ms O’Brien’s frustration as the owner of a childcare centre, is in line with what is happening around the county and country.

In the first four weeks of this year, five childcare businesses closed in Cork alone. That’s on top of the 15 which shut their doors last year and the 28 creche facilities that closed between 2021 and 2022.

In April, the Federation of Early Childhood Providers - just like Ms O’Brien - warned the Government that the issue will only get worse if it doesn’t take action.

“They want to make childcare affordable, but they forget that we are a business and to make that transition they need to include us in table talks,” continues Ms O’Brien.

“Like everyone, we are affected by the rising costs of doing business. So while it’s now more expensive for us to make meals for the children, we cannot ask parents for more money. Unlike a pub or a restaurant, we are being dictated by the Government on what we can do.”

The family-run centre - which has a capacity of 118 spaces - is also struggling to get staff, which Dee believes is down to employees being burdened with excessive paperwork.

Again something she sees as a Government dictate.

“The childminders are being pulled away from the children because there is so much administrative work. But these documents need to be filled out to apply for funding to increase the size of the building or apply for extra resources for children with special needs. So if the paperwork can’t get done, we then have less staff to mind the children - it’s a vicious circle.”

Ms O’Brien says many people are also choosing to leave the vocation because they are feeling underpaid and undervalued, compounding the sector staff shortage.

“A student who leaves college gets better paid than an employee who might have 20 years experience, so that leaves people disillusioned and choosing other forms of education.”

Demand for school places 

And the growing demand for primary school places has also become an issue in the town.

“We’ve been promised a new school in three-to-four years, but until then things are going to be difficult,” says Trina Golden, Principal at Owenabue Educate Together which opened in 2020. “We currently have 70 students, but we can’t take anymore. Holy Well, the gaelscoil and the other Educate Together school are also full.”

In February, Ms Golden also criticised the Department of Education’s proposal to split her current school across two sites on either side of one of Ireland’s busiest commuter towns to increase capacity. But the move would potentially see siblings being separated and parents trying to cross the town in heavy traffic to drop off and pick up their children.

Population boom

Many say Carrigaline’s boom in population is to blame for stretching the town’s resources.

The most recent figures from the Central Statistics Office in April 2022, labels it the largest town in the county, with a population of more than 18,200.

“The needs of the community simply aren’t being addressed,” says Chris O’Brien. The 40-year-old declared his intention to run for election to Cork County Council in March, and is canvassing with the help of friends, family and volunteers ahead of the local elections.

“I said to myself, I can keep complaining from the sidelines, or I can highlight what needs to be done.”

As manager of the Carrigaline Family Support Centre, Mr O’Brien is at the frontline of what needs priority.

The father-of-two has chosen to run as an Independent, as he feels it’s not a good time to align himself to any one party.

“There is a lot of distrust and hurt for party politics at the moment. I want to get into politics for the right reasons.”

These reasons centre around a lack of facilities and services for young people and families.

“The social and physical infrastructure simply isn’t there,” continues Mr O’Brien. “The young people I meet are suffering from a lot of anxiety, brought on by modern day issues like social media. Because there are not enough resources for early intervention, things are slipping past us. So these young people end up skipping school because they are unhappy there. It might be coupled with trouble at home and because there are no places for young people to go, they end up hanging around on the streets and anti-social behaviour begins.”

Mr O’Brien also believes that much like its youth, Carrigaline itself is struggling with finding its identity.

“We have it through our sports clubs, but other than that we are lacking communal spaces and a sense of who we are as a community.”

His opinion is shared by Michael Wall, who is Chairperson of the Carrigaline Community Association.

“I see a lot of people who have moved to the area to commute to Cork city and don’t necessarily have ties to the town. We find it hard to get people to get involved with our association and give their input. The people who are involved tend to be older and are not leaving their homes as much. For example, the local bowls club is finding it hard to attract seniors since the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Michael believes the lack of engagement in the community is down to the pressures people are facing in the current climate.

“Between the cost of living and the housing crisis, people simply don’t have the time to help out. They are too busy trying to bring up their families and pay their mortgage or rent. I know of some people working between two and three jobs to make ends meet.”

And that pressure of putting a roof over your head, is not getting any better.

Housing challenges 

In September 2021, the Central Statistics Office’s Residential Property Price Index put the average cost of a home in Carrigaline at more than €316,000.

But those selling property today, say the cost is much higher. “It’s more like €350,000 or €360,000,” says auctioneer and valuer Michael Pigott.

“A three-bed semi-detached house is going for more than €400,000 at the moment. If it’s an A-rated house, that puts it up even higher and a four-bed semi-detached can go for about €450,000. We have lots of stock and it’s selling fast. Most properties are going for more than 10% over asking price. We’re seeing a lot of landlords getting out of the market. It’s a very popular place to buy for people working in pharmaceutical companies in Ringaskiddy, who want to be both close to work, as well as Cork city.”

Fianna Fail councillor Seamus McGrath also agrees that more needs to be done to help young people find homes.

“We continue to make affordable housing our priority. We really saw the demand last year when more than thirty units were made available by Cork County Council on Church Road as part of the Waters Edge development and they sold immediately. We have two more schemes in the pipeline but it will take time to meet the demands. As with many things in Carrigaline, the town is growing faster than we can keep up.”