Tusla seeks €1m to transform dilapidated Cork office into multi-service community hub

Tusla is looking to complete a €1m update of a “dilapidated” office building in Mayfield to turn it into a community hub.

At a presentation at the local community safety partnership meeting in city hall yesterday evening, Pat Kelleher, Tusla’s Cork East area manager, said that people “often hear about Tusla with a negative narrative”.

“We have a strong sense that the public don’t really know what we do,” he said.

He explained that Tusla funds over 650 services nationally, including youth organisations, family resource centres, and subsidised childcare.

“Our staff are always trying to reach out, to break down those barriers, because we know that poverty is one of the greatest drivers of crime.”

Mr Kelleher said that for staff, “it can be a tough place to be … we have a huge retention problem”.

The work can be “very challenging”, particularly involving teenagers who get kicked out of their houses and are involved in crime.

Tusla works with gardaí and community and voluntary organisations, but he said: “We do have huge challenges,” including a lack of foster places.

Tusla’s Cork East area covers parts of Cork city including Mayfield, which he said is classified as a “very disadvantaged area” according to CSO data, the 26th most disadvantaged area in Ireland out of 3,417 areas, while The Glen is 79th.

Tusla owns a premises in Mayfield, Knockmahon House, where it still has staff, but he said the building is in “a state of dilapidation at present”. 

He explained that management want to redevelop the building on the Old Youghal Rd in the centre of Mayfield.

“We hope we can have a range of services based there — at the moment it’s just Tusla staff; we’d like to retain some offices but bring in the HSE, addiction services, youth services, community gardaí.”

They are hoping that the building can be open in the evenings and at weekends so it can be used as a hub for the community. 

Though it is a Tusla building, local management need support from their organisation to redevelop it, and “the budget to redevelop would be well over €1m”.

“At the moment the building is not fit for purpose,” but if the funding for the redevelopment is approved, he said they will begin by putting together a design and applying for planning permission.

“If approved, things could move quite quickly,” he said, with a timeline of about 18 months from the granting of planning permission to opening the facility.

A meeting of key stakeholders is to be held next month to inform the business case plan to be submitted to Tusla management.