Some of the large crowd at last night’s meeting in Dunfanaghy. Pic by kind permission of Moses Alcorn.
A huge crowd turned out at the Ozanam Community Centre in Dunfanaghy last night in support of Dr Paul Stewart and his staff at the local Health Centre which is threatened with closure.
The building, which was built in 1952, is in urgent need of refurbishment but at present the HSE seem unlikely to fund this.
More than 400 people heard Dr. Stewart say he feels that if HIQA were to inspect the building at present it would fail under a number of areas.
The meeting was attended by a number of politicians including Joe McHugh, Pearse Doherty, Thomas Pringle, Michael Colm Mac Giolla Easpuig, Tim Jackson, Paddy Harte, Ian McGarvey, Seamus O’Domhnaill and John Sheamis O’Fearraigh with apologies from Mary Therese Gallagher, Pat The Cope Gallagher, Terence Slowey, Senator Brian O’Domhnaill and retiring TD Dinney McGinley who is wished all the best in his retirement.
Those local representatives present were left in no doubt about the feelings of the community, which just the day before had seen their Post Office Sorting Services been switched to Falcarragh and the Community Playgroup looking for new premises.
The meeting which was attended by around 450 people was arranged under the auspices of the Dunfanaghy Area Community Network (DACN) and was chaired by Michael McClafferty.
The meeting was also addressed by Dr.Stewart who gave a rundown on what is happening with the building and attempts made to solve the problem to date.
He said that The HSE owns the building and he only has a contract with them to provide GP services from them. He does not own it and he has been pressuring the HSE to refurbish the building but so far they have failed to do this and it is his belief that they intend to close the facility and move patients to Creeslough which would greatly inconvenience people in the Dunfanaghy area, especially the elderly and those without transport.
He said that he is looking for between €50,000 to €100,000 to refurbish the old building.
A new building would be an ideal solution, but at the moment, this is not feasible as it would take too long to plan and build one and in the meantime if HIQA were to close the present facility then in his opinion it would not reopen again.
The meeting was also addressed by Bella Stewart, Paul Kernan and Jim Curran from the sub group dealing with the dispensary and there were a number of issues raised by speakers from the floor.
All the politicians present spoke in support of the local community and praised them for their contribution thus far. Pearse Doherty said that he hoped to facilitate a meeting with the local committee and all the politicians in Donegal and the HSE at the earliest opportunity.
The committee urged all those present to sign the petition which prior to the meeting had been signed by 600 people. It will also be going door to door in the coming days and weeks.
People were also urged to put pressure on the politicians and those looking for votes on the doorstep in the next three weeks to support keeping the local dispensary in Dunfanaghy.