RCDC urges immediate action on Dean Maxwell
As 2019 comes to an end, Roscrea is coming closer to the 2021 closure of admittance by its Dean Maxwell home to new long-term stay residents.
The Dean Maxwell home is a facility which is at the heart of Roscrea and its community and has been for over 40 years. Roscrea Community Development Council have contacted the TDs of the constituency and the county councillors of the Electoral Area and it appears that there is no proposal in place to ensure that the existing, or new alternative, long-term stay facility, will be in place in 2021 or past that time.
It appears to RCDC that if a capital allocation is not put in place immediately for a newly-built long-term stay facility, that Roscrea and its people will have lost the long-term stay facility for all time and RCDC says that people will have to make up their own minds on the other facilities in the context of HSE assurances that they will be retained.
However, the long-term stay facility is the hallmark in Roscrea of 'Dean Maxwell' and RCDC emphasise that the people of Roscrea and surrounds must be crystal clear that the HSE have made it clear that they will be closing the door to new long-term stay residents entering Dean Maxwell in 2021 and thereafter. Thus, RCDC, says that the people of Roscrea must be under no illusion about the seriousness of the situation and unless Roscrea as a whole - every man, woman, and child - is prepared to fight this decision and seek a capital allocation for Roscrea in this regard, as has happened elsewhere, then the facilities will be gone from Roscrea and, once gone, will be gone forever.
In the past Roscrea people had to mobilise for necessary facilities for the town and also to keep facilities in the town. RCDC says that urgent necessity demands that Roscrea people mobilise once again. If not, Roscrea, RCDC warns, will loose the long-term stay facility, which has become synonymous with Dean Maxwell.
Thus, RCDC urges the people of Roscrea and surrounding districts to come to this Thursday night’s (November 28th) meeting in the Muintir na Tíre Hall at 8pm, and not only that but to commit themselves to a sustained campaign of action, which may include taking to the streets in mass protest and making the issue an absolute priority issue for the 2020 General Election.