Cootehill senior citizens on the war path...

Any move by the HSE to move the senior citizens out of the Darley Health Centre on the Fair Green in Cootehill to another location will be strongly resisted by the senior citizens. It appears that the HSE is examining the idea of moving the senior citizens out to a site on the Cavan Road, so that primary care and occupational therapy can be accommodated in the health centre. The chairman of the Senior Citizens Committee, C.J. Fay, welcomes that fact that additional health services are mooted for Cootehill but insists that this initiative can't involve the moving of the senior citizens from the health centre. He said they will seek a meeting with the HSE on the matter as soon as possible. "They have plenty of space here to build an additional facilities on site. People who never left the house for years are coming in here. They love it and it has added years to their lives," said T.J. Fay. He was extremely disappointed that there would be any move to take the senior citizens out of the Health Centre. "We succeeded in getting this health centre built after a 20-year wait. Then when it was built, we had another battle to get it open for the senior citizens in the form of a day care centre, five days a week. It is a wonderful facility for all the senior citizens within a radius of seven miles. They get a meal and a shower and they attend the chiropodist and their general health is checked regularly by the doctors in the centre. That is primary care in its own right. "I can tell you that all the senior citizens are very upset at the fact that they are going to be moved to another location. This news seemed to leak out and nobody from the HSE came to us to tell us what is going on and we are extremely disappointed about that," he said. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the HSE told The Anglo-Celt that no decision has been made, as of yet, regarding the relocation of the day care centre for senior citizens. "We continue to develop primary care services and we now have both occupational therapy and physiotherapy services for the Cootehill population, which continue to be based in Cavan town due to the lack of suitable accommodation in Cootehill. We have been in discussion with a local developer with regard to the proposed lease of a building, which would provide additional accommodation for the delivery of health services in Cootehill. This building is convenient to the town centre and to the Darley Health Centre. If approval is granted for the lease of this building, we will then proceed to decide how best to rearrange service delivery across the two buildings to achieve the required additional local service," read the statement. Meanwhile, Philomena Clarke, secretary of the Senior Citizens Committee, said she was opposed to any relocation of the senior citizen's services. "Any such move is very wrong, as we fought a hard long battle to get this centre open on the Fair Green for our senior citizens." She said that it provides an important social outlet as well and facilitates senior citizens from Cootehill, Rcockcorry, Drumgoon, Bunnoe and Drung. Margaret Bannon, treasurer of the Cootehill Senior Citizens Committee, described the news as heartbreaking. "We waited years upon years for this new building to be erected for them and now they are taking it away. Our politicians have to stand up for us in this time of need, to ensure that the wonderful service is maintained here". Meanwhile Cootehill town councillors are behind the senior citizens of the area. Cllr. Vincent McCaul said that he has no hesitation in "jumping the gun" on this issue because in the past the community had learned about things after they happened such as the closure of the District Court. "The doctors in Castleblayney are building a primary care centre and I can't understand why it can't happen in Cootehill," said Cllr. McCaul. Fianna Fáil's Michael McCarey has called for the HSE to meet the entire Town Council and the Senior Citizens Committee on the matter to bring clarity to their proposals. He says that the senior citzens should come first in this situation. Emphasising Cootehill's strategic location between Cavan and Monaghan, Cllr. McCarey said there was an opportunity to locate services in the town serving both counties. He even suggested renting a premises to get such a project up and running sooner rather than later. His party colleague, Don Smith, said that a primary care centre would be welcome but not at the expense of senior citizens, as was expressed by Cllr. Aidan Boyle (FG). Cllr. Sean Igoe agreed that clarity was needed on the issue and meeting with the HSE would be a good starting point. "I know the senior citizens are very happy with the level of service here. I don't know if it will be any better or worse if it is moved elsewhere. I would like to hear the professional view point on it." Sinn Féin Cllr. John Martin said he would be totally opposed to the HSE moving the senior citizens out of the health centre. "I stood on the picket line with the senior citizens committee when they were looking for the facility. We had been fighting for years for this ground-floor facility. It would not make sense to move them to any place where there would be stairs or lifts and there are no parking facilities at the site that is being mentioned."