North Cork town ‘cannot lose’ vital nursing service

Cork County Council will write to the HSE asking that it reconsider the sudden and unexplained closure of a nursing service in North Cork.

Last Friday, the Doneraile community nursing service closed its doors with no explanation given to residents of the area.

Speaking at Monday’s meeting of Cork County Council, local councillor Frank O’Flynn (Fianna Fáil) expressed deep concern for those relying on the “tremendous” service who will now be forced to make the 10km journey to the Mallow community care centre.

“The most important aspect is the local accessibility of that service,” Cllr O’Flynn told the chamber.

“You have people who are older, you’ve people who are feeble, people who haven't got transport, and young mothers as well.

This is something that we cannot lose,” he added.

The Fermoy representative went on to point out that the people of Doneraile have already recently lost their post office and a local GP service.

“We’re talking about people who are stressed, who are worried, and our most vulnerable people – the older people. This was their community nurse and now we’re losing it,” he said.

“What we need is a local, accessible community nurse for the people of Doneraile and the surrounding area,” Cllr O’Flynn added.

Seconding his motion was local Cllr Kay Dawson (Fine Gael) who said the Doneraile service is a vital asset to the area.

She said: “It was a service that was there, it was a service that was used. It's key and important, especially for the older generation in Doneraile.”

Also supporting the motion was Fermoy councillor Nelius Cotter (FF) who said he had been contacted by several people from Doneraile who were very disappointed by the closure.

Cllr Cotter described the closure as “unacceptable” and commended Cllr O’Flynn on his motion.

A defiant Cllr O’Flynn spoke again following his colleagues’ contributions, vowing to fight for the reopening of the service and for answers as to why it closed in the first place.

He said: “The big thing here is this: no consultation with the anyone in the area. They just decided to close it. The Friday evening, they decided to bring down the shutters and close it for no reason whatsoever. Why don't they give us the reason? Why don't they talk?”