PLANS to move psychiatric patients out of an Eastern Health Board home in Cork Street, Dublin, today have been shelved following opposition from local residents.
The plans, defended on Friday by the manager of the EHB's psychiatric service, were postponed later following negotiations. The EHB wants to use the Weir Home as a treatment centre for drug addicts.
Almost all the patients, some of whom have lived there for 15 years, have signed a letter asking to be allowed to remain in the home.
The Psychiatric Nurses Association of Ireland also opposes the move, which it says will destroy one of the State's best examples of community integration.
The local residents' committee has made its co operation with a drug treatment centre in the area conditional on the patients being allowed to remain in the home.
The residents' committee - the Cork Street and Maryland Residents Committee - has suggested that a drug treatment facility be located for an agreed number of hours a day in another building in Cork Street owned by the EHB, and that the patients remain where they are.
In a letter dated October 30th, the EHB's chief executive, Mr P.J. Fitzpatrick, gave the committee an undertaking that "you may be assured that no arrangements will be implemented without our first communicating response to you in relation to your proposals".
Last week, the committee chairman, Mr Charlie Hammond, learned that a number of residents were to be moved today by the EHB's psychiatric service, managed by Mr Michael Walsh.
On a debate with Mr Hammond on RTE's Liveline on Friday, Mr Walsh insisted that some patients would move today as they had expressed a wish to do so after being brought to look at alternative accommodation earlier in the week. Mr Hammond denied that the patients wanted to move and said a member of his committee had found a patient sitting on his bed crying at the prospect of the move.
On Friday evening Mr Hammond met the EHB manager of its drugs/AIDS programme, Mr Pat McLoughlin, who gave him a letter saying the EHB would meet the local committee today and "that no patient in the Weir Home will be moved to any other accommodation until after the Christmas break".
An EHB statement made no reference to this undertaking. "In recent times the rehabilitation team has taken some residents from the Weir Home out to look at alternative group homes, and some have stated that they wish to move to new accommodation," it said. "We are concerned that their aspirations in this regard shall be fulfilled. We understand that some residents in the Weir Home may wish to continue living in the local community and we will be taking steps to accommodate their aspirations.