McGreehan welcomes opening of Anam Chara Respite Centre

FIAnnA Fail Senator Erin McGreehan today welcomed the official opening of Anam Chara, an overnight respite house for adults with physical and sensory needs. The new stateof-the-art respite centre, which is run by My Life by Estrela Hall, will provide a home-from-home experience with purposebuilt sensory facilities and nursing oversight.

Minister of State for Disabilities, Anne Rabbitte, was on hand to officially open the new respite centre, saying that respite is a subject close to her heart and she was delighted to see respite services expanding and offering support to families in need.

Senator McGreehan expressed her support for Anam Chara, “I’m delighted to see this facility open today which will offer invaluable respite care to people in Louth. The dedicated team at this centre will help individuals achieve their highest level of independence and the facilities and ethos of the service will enrich the lives of everyone who attends in their time of need.

The official opening of Anam Chara marks a new chapter for Louth Disability Services, which has been providing overnight respite for adults with disabilities for the past 27 years. The closure of Sruthan House in 2019 led to a consultation process with service users, families and staff, resulting in the development of Anam Chara and the outsourcing of respite service provision to a provider who could deliver a modern, people-centred service.

“Anam Chara is a much-needed and welcomed respite centre that will provide support and care to families in need and help enrich the lives of individuals with disabilities. Delivering this centre was a huge priority for me, and I recognise it was a really difficult time for families not having accessible respite. I’d like to thank Minister Rabbitte for her help on this and I will continue to work alongside her to deliver more disability services in Louth,” added Senator McGreehan.