Repairs needed to save home for visually impaired would cost €450,000

End of an era: 180-year-old building to close doors in May

THE REPAIRS required to bring a home for visually impaired men in north Dublin in line with necessary standards would cost in excess of €450,000, its chief executive said yesterday.

Brian Allen said it would not be realistic to bring Clonturk House in Drumcondra, a 180-year-old protected building, up to new Health Information Quality Authority standards, especially at a time of constrained finances.

Clonturk House employs 24 staff and houses 14 blind and partially sighted men. It is expected to close in May. The home is run by St Joseph’s Centre for the Visually Impaired, which took over managerial responsibility from the Rosminian Fathers last June. The residents are mostly aged between 60 and 90 and some have lived there since it opened as a visually impaired centre in 1962.

Mr Allen said problems have been discovered in the property’s wiring and heating systems, and that estimates suggested that repairing its leaking roof would cost at least €450,000.

He said that, under the new regulations, there would also be issues with the physical size of the bedrooms, ensuite facilities and the sharing of rooms by residents.

Mr Allen said he brought his concerns about the house to the Health Service Executive (HSE), its principal supporter, who said they could no longer fund such an operation. “They feel it would be difficult to get the building up to standard,” he said. “Why invest when there are existing facilities that could deal with these men.”

Clonturk House is examining centres where the men might be housed in Santry and Glasnevin in Dublin, and Maynooth, Co Kildare. Mr Allen said the 24 staff, who will be made redundant, will be offered assistance to prepare them for finding a new position.

JJ McEntaggart, who has lived in Clonturk House for eight years, said the residents were “shocked” to hear the facility was closing, but that he accepted the decision.

“Naturally enough we’re all disappointed,” he said. “It’s difficult for everybody. It’s difficult for the staff who are losing their jobs. It’s difficult for the men moving to a new location with new people.

“Two of the men, Conor and Tom, have lived here since 1962. It has to be the biggest shock for them after a very happy 47 years, but to give them their dues they have taken the news very well.”

Mr McEntaggart said repairs to the house could take years and that the men might not want to come back. “What we all hope is that wherever we and the staff go, whether its together or separate, that everyone is content.”