Progress is being made in the quest for a dedicated children's respite centre in Monaghan with the recruitment process to staff the facility now underway. Parents of children with special needs in Monaghan have been campaigning and lobbying politicians for a special school, day centre and respite facility.
In April, Minister for Disabilities Anne Rabbitte, came to Monaghan where she announced €3.1 m euro for a brand-new respite facility in the county. And for the period it will take the HSE to procure a site, receive planning permission, construct and kit out the new property, Deputy Rabbitte promised a temporary respite facility to be opened by October 1st. Now, the expert service provider who was awarded the contract for the Monaghan centre has begun recruitment for it.
The Talbot Group is seeking people to fill roles such as person in charge, social care workers, staff nurses and direct support workers. To that end, they are holding a walk-in interview day on Wednesday, 26th June in the Four Seasons Hotel in Monaghan Town. They ask anyone who may be interested in "changing the lives of residents" to come along to the event any time between the hours of 9am and 4pm.
Edel Sweeney has three children with autism and says she is delighted with the "small progress" being made in the campaign for the much-needed service: "I suppose when you have a child in the house with challenging behaviour, has autism, intellectual disabilities and so on, it can be very full on, it's 24/7 and sometimes, well, all the the time, a parent can't pour from an empty cup," Edel told Northern Sound, "So, it's just to press the re-set button. To give the child a break from the home environment and to give the parent a break to catch up on much-needed sleep and to just press the re-set button so, we can start again."
