Carlow Women’s Refuge Campaigners were thrilled and relieved to finally have the site for a women’s refuge in Carlow, so says spokeswoman Ger O’Neill. News of a new 10-unit site in Carlow town was announced recently with Ms. O’Neill stating “it was a long fight to get here”.
She continued “We started this campaign over 7 years ago. Local Carlovians came together to bring the fight for a local refuge to the doors of the council chamber and the Dáil. I want to thank the countless activists, many of whom are survivors of Domestic Violence, for all their hard work and commitment. All these people came together to form a grassroots movement that, despite the long road ahead, did not stop campaigning.”
“Through every empty promise from Government, through time delays and red tape we kept fighting to improve the lives of women and children in Carlow. We always had great support from people at rallies and more and more help got involved. This is a historic moment for Carlow and it goes to show how ordinary people can make such a positive impact on their communities.”
Ms. O’Neill also added that “Our campaigners will continue to monitor progress of the new development and hope that it will be up and running in a timely manner.”
Cllr Adrienne Wallace, who co-founded the group added “One of the first meetings I had as a councillor was with reps from TUSLA in 2019, at that meeting I was told flat out that there would be no chance of a refuge for Carlow but I refused to accept that. The need was glaring and this State has a long history of neglecting the issues affecting women and children.”
“We set up the campaign, organized petitions, called rallies and public meetings, marched on the streets of Dublin and refused to back down. Today I can only say how lucky we are here in Carlow to have such a wonderful community and I wish Amber every success with the tender.”
Cllr Wallace concluded “Going forward I will also be calling on Carlow Council to continue to expand and fund the services of Carlow Women’s Aid, particularly safe houses. Even with the new refuge Carlow, and Ireland in general, is still well behind the required amount of refuge spaces as set out in the Istanbul Convention.”
“Official crime data from the Garda PULSE system highlights the number of reports of domestic violence has more than tripled since 2014, and this year looks set to be the highest on record. It took this long for the government to provide a refuge; we can only hope that with increased pressure from below the next gains won’t take as long.”