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WATCH Saoirse Addiction Treatment Centre opens new centre funded by JP McManus Pro-Am Fund
Saoirse Addiction Treatment Centre staff pictured above with Minister of State with responsibility for Public Health, Wellbeing and the Drugs Strategy, Colm Burke at the launch of the new centre. Picture: Olena Oleksienko/ilovelimerick
Saoirse Addiction Treatment Centre also launched a new pilot treatment programme for people addicted to gambling and gaming
Saoirse, the Limerick-based addiction treatment organisation marked two massive milestones on Friday, June 21 with the official opening of the new centre funded for them by JP McManus Benevolent Fund and the launch of a pilot treatment programme for people who are addicted to gambling and gaming, catering for clients as young as fourteen.
The new centre was bought for the service by the JP McManus Pro-Am fund at a cost of nearly half a million euro and means that Saoirse can now begin expanding the services it offers.
A non-residential, free, treatment service for people addicted to drink, drugs and gambling in the Midwest, Saoirse will now be one of a number of HSE approved pilot schemes nationally for the treatment of people addicted to gaming.
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In 2012, the centre was opened on Davis Street Limerick and was operated on an interim basis and managed by Alan Galvin and Liam Ryan, who both have extensive experience in this area and whose most recent positions were in Aljeff Treatment Center. After Aljeff closed down, it left a huge void in terms of treatments available in the city. Initial funding for the centre came from the HSE Mid-West Regional Drug Co-ordination Unit. Saoirse has offered treatment programmes to almost 3,500 addicts since that time.
Last year alone, the service had 380 clients, 187 crisis interventions and 66 short term interventions for people – that’s 633 individual clients.
Tim Evans, service administrator said, “Demand is always very strong for all of our services. We know there is a very big need for the new pilot programme to help those addicted to on-line gaming and we are now setting up that service and opening it to the public”.
Speaking about the move to the new building in Clare Street, Tim said that Saoirse is “so very grateful to the JP McManus Pro Am fund. This makes a world of difference in terms of our future planning and in terms of the therapeutic environment we can offer.
“Saoirse couldn’t survive without the support we have had since we started from the HSE, Limerick Enterprise Development Partnership (LEDP), Limerick City and County Council and now the JP McManus fund. And not forgetting the Redemptorists, EI in Shannon and all of the hundreds of individuals and local organisations that have fund-raised for us.
Minister of State with responsibility for Public Health, Wellbeing and the Drugs Strategy, Colm Burke performed the official opening of the new centre at Old Clare Street.
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Pictures: Olena Oleksienko/ilovelimerick
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