This article is from page 12 of the 2011-12-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
A STAND-OFF between Cahercalla Community Hospital in Ennis and the promoters of a Diocese of Killaloe-backed project has already cost € 2.1m and this figure that could rise as high as € 3.6m or scupper the development of elderly care services on the hospital grounds altogether.
These fears has been sounded out by the Cuan An Chláir group that has been accused of embarking an ambitious € 3.5m project to develop a daycare centre and sheltered housing for the elderly “without consultation with Cahercalla Hospital despite its very execution being dependent on our support”.
The board of Cahercalla Hospital has refused to sanction the use of the access road to its facilities as the entry point to the new development, a row that has already seen the project promoters lose out on a € 2.1m grant from the Department of the Environment.
And in counting the cost of this lost government aid, Cuan An Chláir have claimed that it could cost up to € 1.5m to build an alternative access point to their development.
In 2008, the then Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh, donated 15.5 acres of land – then valued at € 10m – adjacent to Cahercalla Community Hospital to the Cuan an Chláir Committee for free.
Up until September of this year € 392,874 had bee raised for the € 3.5m project that’s set to be built in two phases. The first phase involving the development of a daycare centre to cater for 65 people daily and the construction of 12 individual houses the will cost € 2m, while the second phase will see the conversion of the old farm yard buildings, adjacent to Cahercalla Hospital to provide a café, meeting rooms, a garden and other appropriate facilities has been costed at € 1.5m.
However, the whole project is now hanging in the balance over a row on access to the site, with Cuan An Chláir spokesperson Pauline McNamara saying that “a tremendous asset will be lost to Ennis” if the project can’t proceed.
The stand-off between the two groups has gathered momentum following the release of a statement by the Cahercalla Hospital, which has accused Cuan An Chláir promoters of failing to address a number of key concerns relating to the project.
“At no point during the many discussions were any of the concerns we raised about the management of the project, including links with Cahercalla, addressed,” the strongly worded statement says.
“Having explored every possible option and following discussions which have been ongoing for over three years, the Board of Cahercalla Community Hospital & Hospice regret that they have, to date, been unable to reach an agreement with Cuan an Chláir with regard to granting permanent access to the site adjacent to the hospital and hospice.
“The project we tried to facilitate was presented to us as a development of housing for active retired elderly. However, as soon as detailed discussions began we discovered that the project was significantly different from what was originally outlined to us. In particular the development now included a daycare centre and permanent access was being sought, both of which would significantly increase the amount of traffic on our driveway impacting on the safety of our residents.
“Despite making every effort through our discussions and allocating a large amount of executive time to considering the proposal we have, to date, been unable to gain sufficient assurances that the project would not negatively impact on Cahercalla’s residents and staff.”
“There is no way that we can afford an alternative access,” says Cuan An Chláir spokesperson Pauline McNamara.