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A REFUGE FOR women and children that had been lying unused in Kildare for almost two years is to finally open its doors to people affected by domestic violence.
The refuge, which is run by Newbridge-based organisation Teach Tearmainn, was completed in 2011 but TheJournal.ie revealed the following year that it had still not opened.
The domestic violence support service completed the building, which comprises four self-contained apartments, in 2011. However, it needed in excess of €400,000 a year to stay open, and the HSE could only provide the service with €100,000.
Teach Tearmainn initially was approached by the HSE in 1998 about taking on the project, Jacinta Carey of Teach Tearmainn told TheJournal.ie in 2012.
In March of this year, Carey said that the board had not accepted the €100k as they felt it was not enough to provide a safe refuge to people.
However, this week Carey told TheJournal.ie that there was good news on the horizon.
We recently signed a contract with the local HSE to open two of the apartments. It will be a phased opening. We’re hopeful that they will be ready to be open and furnished within the first quarter of 2014.
She said that the organisation still has “another bit to do” and needs to find funding for more staff so that the remaining apartments can be opened.
“When the refuge is fully operational, we could have four women with up to 16 children in the premises at any one time,” she said.
It requires a certain number of staff and at the moment with funding received from the HSE we can only employ three staff. That is not sufficient to supervise and be responsible for that number of children.
“Until we can get the necessary funding to allow us to employ six staff in total it is regrettable but we won’t be able to open the other two [apartments],” said Carey.
She pointed out that this comes at a time when refuges are having to turn people away, and that there aren’t enough domestic violence refuges to cater for the needs of affected people in Ireland.
The apartment has to be furnished, funding for which Teach Tearmainn has recently received from the National Lottery. There is also some work to do inside and outside of the apartments to make them suitable and comfortable to live in.
When this is completed, Carey said “my timeframe would be mid-late February and I’m hoping we can stick with that”.
The apartments will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, but a risk assessment would also be involved.
Teach Tearmainn continues to offer its information and support services, as well as its court accompaniment service.
The Teach Tearmainn helpline is 045 438461 and its email address is jcarey@teachtearmainn.ie.
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A sky news journalist was fired upon in Ukraine and it made international headlines for a few day after the event, and rightly so. I wonder will the cold blooded murder of a journalist by the iof make the same waves internationally.
We need sanctions against the israhelli regime now. The israhelli regime can not be allowed to continue with the murder and ethnic cleasing of Palestinians. #BDS
@Eamonn Connaghan: “They are b&stards, but our b&stards”, to misquote certain American president.
@Eamonn Connaghan: this sad and tragic murder is receiving a lot of coverage this morning, RTÉ sky 24 BBC 24 and CNN
@George Demo: Yes but in a lot of those cases they are not specifying that it was Israeli fire that killed her.
@Eamonn Connaghan: iof, clever, proper name for them really.
@Zmeevo Libe: Don’t put all your eggs into the one b@stard.
@Eamonn Connaghan: you guys know well that the journalist was caught in the cross fire of the two warring factions.. But you love any chance to demonise israel as does the irish media.. Regardless of the facts..
@Victor Feldman: She was a thorn isn the side of the Israelis for her reporting. She had been previously arrested by them on many occasions.
According to other journalists in the area she and the other journalists had reported to the Israelis that they were covering the story and were on site. They were wearing the PRESS jackets and helmets. According to witnesses the journalists were well away from any conflict between the 2 sides. Yet you know well that it was crossfire. Have you given your report to the UN or Amnesty or any other international organisation? Probably not as they are all corrupt and biased against Israel aren’t they? I wonder why…..
Israel lost the plot decade’s ago and worse they’re getting. Their policy to the Palestinians and the actions of the IDF are shameful. Next comes the slick and sickly PR with obfuscation and conciliatory tones. They just don’t get it. Lots of nukes and a big army won’t prevent them from reeping the harvest they sow with caleous disregard. May Ms Abu Akleh rest in peace.
This brave women was assassinated by occupying forces. Her crime, being both a journalist and Palestinian.
Yet again evidence of Israeli justice. No trail, no charges just a bullet fired into her brain. Other journalist were also injured so this was a targeted assassination. Even those who tried to recover her remains came under fire. Preventing any medical help reaching her.
May she rest in peace.
They rarely justify these killings but this journal…ist was wearing a flak jacket with PRESS on it. The Israeli sniper knew how to aim his American rifle.
@Bramley Hawthorne: proof please
There are no Israeli “security forces” in the Occupied West Bank, there are only Israeli armed forces brutally occupying it, like Putin’s forces in Ukraine
The Israeli army/paramilitaries kill about two or three Palestinians every week.
I wonder what their ‘investigation’ will conclude. Will they release the body cam footage?
@Watchful Axe: I doubt body cam footage will show anything, wasn’t it a sniper.
@Watchful Axe: Palestine have her body and won’t join a joint investigation
I wonder why
@Kieron Meehan: havent been asked to! Autopsy is being carried out
‘The sad death…’ should that not read ‘murder’? Why repeat the euphemism?
Excuse disjointed comment but I was being flagged as ‘toxic’ every second word.
Absolutely disgraceful attitude from the US. When asked whether the US would support an international investigation, US Department of State spokesman Ned Price said: “Israel has the wherewithal to conduct a thorough investigation”.
@Fr. Fintan Stack: Never mind about this, it’ll be forgot about in a day or two, just make sure you have a Ukrainian flag in your bio. Or else.
Is Israeli Jews believe in God, do they really think he’d be fine with how they carry on? They base their aggression on an idea that Jesus gave them that land and it’s rightly theirs. But do they think they’d meet Jesus in heaven and his position would be “it’s fine to shoot innocent people if it’s to do with property and land ownership. In that instance my son, of course you may kill”
@Rob Gale: The god of the bible was fond of a lot of smiting and slaughter so I’d say they’d be grand once they get up there.
@Rob Gale: buddie.. The Jewish religion does not believe in jesus. At that period the Jewish people had been around for a couple of thousand years.
Has anything been proved
Palestine won’t join a joint investigation
Why?
@Kieron Meehan: Israel won’t agree to an independent international investigation. I wonder why.
@Kieron Meehan: strange that you spit out the same nonsense a couple of times on the comments when it clearly stated in the article Israel haven’t contacted the palestinians
@Fr. Fintan Stack: it won’t agree to an international investigation because there are countries like Ireland who viscerally dislike Israel.
have your say