Last residents from flooded East Cork mental health centre move into new homes

THE last of the residents who were displaced after the Owenacurra mental health resident centre was flooded during the Midleton floods of 2023 have been moved from a hotel to their new homes.

It’s being seen as the end of a long road for them, since the controversial closure of the centre was announced in the summer of 2021.

Nearly €1m has been spent purchasing two homes in Midleton for the residents, a HSE spokesperson told Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide.

The first house to open was Lauriston in Midleton, a community residence with the capacity to support three adults with enduring mental health needs.

The property was acquired at a cost of almost €450,000. A further capital investment of over €380,000 was made to fund design, construction works, and partial equipping of the house, to bring it to the required standard for use as a mental health residential facility.

Another residence recently opened at Westbrook on O’Dwyer’s Road in Midleton, which can cater for four residents.

Both houses are now fully occupied.

The Westbrook property was purchased for over €490,000. The final construction and fit-out costs associated with this property are currently being reconciled, the HSE said.

Replacement

Additionally, the replacement of the former Owenacurra Centre in Midleton is currently underway, with the capital project having progressed to the detailed design phase.

The HSE Capital Plan for 2026, which was published recently, saw €4.4m awarded to take the project, a purpose-built 10-bed community rehabilitation residence (CRR) with single room en suite accommodation, to construction.

This represents a significant step forward in the development of modern, fit-for-purpose accommodation to replace the previous facility and will support the delivery of high-quality, recovery-focused residential mental health care in the area, the HSE said.

Mary Hurley, whose sister Anna was a long term resident of Owenacurra before the closure, said she has finally moved into her new home and out of the hotel she had been living in for more than two years.

“It’s an adapted bungalow that has really been finished to a very high standard. It’s very comfortable and homely, everyone has their own bedroom, and it’s a bright house in a nice mature estate where people have been very welcoming. It’s been a very good experience for my sister,” Ms Hurley said.

“She was in the old Owenacurra for over 25 years, so it was important that she would stay in an area she was familiar with, where she felt secure, she knew people and people knew her. She had joined various groups in Midleton over the years and that’s able to continue now that she is in the new house. Staying in the locality was critical to her wellbeing.”

Owenacurra flooded during Storm Babet in October 2023, along with many other homes and businesses in Midleton. All the residents were moved out of the facility and into the Midleton Park Hotel, where Ms Hurley said her sister was well cared for by the facility’s staff. “But a hotel room isn’t a home,” she said.

She added that over the two years in the hotel, the management were fantastic in terms of keeping people in the loop about what was happening. 

“It did take a long time for the house to get finished, but they arranged meetings with residents on a regular basis, and took a lot of care and time to reassure people,” Ms Hurley said.

Supporting

The same staff who had worked in Owenacurra and cared for residents in the hotel are now supporting residents in the new home, and that continuity is really important, she said.

Her sister and the other three residents of the new home were the last of the original Owenacurra residents to move from the hotel.

“It’s been a really long road, but there’s been a shift from the HSE in terms of their approach to working with residents and families,” Mary continued.

In June 2021, the HSE announced that Owenacurra would be closing as the building was no longer fit for purpose due to significant structural defects, and Mary Hurley is one of several family members of residents who protested this closure.

“It started in the summer of 2021. The plan was to shut it down cold and ship the residents out to St Stephen’s Hospital and other sites around Cork, wherever they could find a bed. We were horrified by that.

“After 25 years in Midleton, my sister had really found her feet there. It took her a long time to do that, because she’s a very shy person, but they worked intensively with her in Owenacurra and she got to know people, got involved in groups. The idea of transporting her off to some hospital where she knew nobody, we just couldn’t believe it.”

Helpful

Mary explained how a group of family members of residents came together and TD Liam Quaide was very helpful. So were the residents themselves. “They really wanted to stay in Midleton, so we mounted a campaign to raise awareness of the plight of these people,” she told The Echo.

“The HSE persisted with the plan for a while, looked at a place in Carrigaline, but there were more objections from locals, things were not in a good place at all,” she said.

Some residents who were older were moving to nursing homes. The numbers in Owenacurra were dwindling and eventually they came up with a plan for the houses in Midleton, shortly before the floods.

The Westbrook property was identified by the HSE in October 2023, with the Lauristown property being identified slightly before this. Once the properties were bought, they had to be refurbished, which Ms Hurley said was a slow process. “We knew at least that they’d be staying in Midleton by then.”

Ms Hurley says the two new houses are a model for other services, where people are supported to live in their local communities that they’re connected to.

“That’s a meaningful life, rather than being cut off in St Stephen’s hospital or somewhere else remote. It’s hard enough for people to spend time in hospital for treatment, but it’s definitely not a home. Where they are now, this is their home, and you feel reassured that they have a decent quality of life.”

She reiterates that the staff are lovely. “They’ve always been good, and Anna’s built relationships with them over time so that continuity has helped the integration into the house. Any move is not without its challenges for people who struggle with their mental health, but all that support and the people behind it is what makes a difference.”

Mr Quaide told The Echo: “The opening of a second residential mental health service in Midleton since the Owenacurra Centre closure is very welcome.

“These high quality properties are well located in the town and ideal for the continued community integration of current and future residents. I look forward to the completion of the 10-bedroom service on the site of the original facility.”