Family Resource Centres
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-03
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Joe O'Reilly (FG), Labour Panel

I congratulate the local volunteers involved in Croílar na nDrumlíní and thank them for their work. They are involved in trying to get a resource house for Cootehill. Notable among them are Dr. Fiona O Hé and Ms Kerry Mullen. I thank them for their work. I also thank my colleague Councillor Carmel Brady for her advocacy in this area. She contacted me about the matter as late as yesterday. I grew up in the Cootehill area. I spent a lot of my youth there and I went to school there. As a result, I have a passionate interest in this matter. I welcome the Minister of State.
When the group to which I refer got together to do this, it developed a target area or an operational area for the resource house to serve - basically, a natural community area. The group carried out research and found a number of things. It found that there was a deprivation score as low as 29.54 in the area.
Technical people will know what that means. One third of the population has primary education only. At the time of research, less than 9% had third level education. It has the oldest age profile of any settlement larger than 500 in the country. That is a very specific issue. I am saddened to say that child welfare referrals and substance abuse are at the highest level in Cavan and Monaghan in the area of Cootehill. Suicide rates are double those in other areas. The housing assistance payment, HAP, in the private rental sector is very strong. That is the need that is there for our family resource house. There is Hub Muinchille on a site there. It is a little group doing volunteer family support work and social inclusion work inasmuch as it can.
In 2019, the group in question got a survey done with LEADER funding. In that survey, five things were established. First, there was a lack of investment in community resources in Cootehill. Second, there was a lack of feeling accepted and respected in their own community. People felt that they were not getting their fair share of things. Third, not being able to access needed services was a real issue for people. This is empirical research. Fourth, there was a lack of support networks to help them with their problems and difficulties. Fifth, there was an absence of ability to feel safe in the community. All of that is quite distressing.
A number of other things are important. There is an available and suitable premises in the Hub Muinchille in what was the Bank of Ireland building there. It is a suitable legal entity. There is support from all the relevant agencies, including the children and young people’s services committee, CYPSC, Cavan County Council and Cavan County Local Development, CCLD. There is cross-community support. A drop-in centre that supported people in getting what they needed is very necessary in Cootehill and would serve a great purpose.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-03/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:42+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-03