Perhaps not quite, but not a million miles away… Right next door, in fact.
In these enlightened times, there really isn’t quite enough stigma associated with mental illness, so the government is finally going to do something about it. In what can best be described as a return to good old-fashioned Victorian values, our great leaders have decided that, rather than rebuilding a somewhat habitable, non-dickensian Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, it would be a great idea to arbitrarily lump the mentally ill in with criminals.
In ‘co-locating’ the replacement for the Central Mental Hospital with the replacement for Mountjoy Prison, the government is implying that mental illness and criminality are inextricably linked. As it stands, many people who commit offences as a direct result of psychiatric problems are simply sent to jail, regardless of the fact that punishment is not what they need. Just think how convenient it’ll be in the future. They can just fling the mad folk over the wall, between the two institutions whenever they need to. Really handy.
You might argue that the government should be trusted on this one, as they’ve obviously gone through the whole ‘consultation process’ business, and come to an informed, considered decision. Not so, it would seem… Families of patients, mental health campaigners and mental health professionals all appear to be unanimously against the decision. Worse still, for Fianna Fail, economists are baffled by it too. Jim Power, Chief Economist with financial institution, Friends First, described the decision as having “all the hallmarks of having been scribbled on the back of an envelope”. He reckons it would make more economic sense to sell some of the land at Dundrum, and use the profits to rebuild the hospital. Even if it didn’t make economic sense, it still sounds far more sensible than locating it in the middle of nowhere, miles from any kind of public transport or amenities.
With the resignation of Bertie Ahern and the dumping of their infamous marquee of corruption at the Galway Races, Fianna Fail have given their image a bit of a spring clean. Beneath the shiny new surface though, little has changed - as proven by their determination to give priority to a bit of ‘prime real estate’ over the welfare of Ireland’s most vulnerable.
Filed under: Like, serious shit | Tagged: central mental hospital, corruption, dundrum, fianna fail, patients not prisoners
Sounds like what the Nazis did. The mentally ill were shipped off to concentration camps along with gypsies, jews, intellectuals and other undesireable persons.
Redevelop the CMH yes, yes, yes … it badly needs it. It is a huge site, more than 32 acres. A state of the art new CMH facility for the whole country only needs 20 acres. the rest could be sold to finance the redevelopment.
A No Brainer… you would think. The legacy of McDowell’s decision seems to have been adopted as social policy by Fianna Fail.
It’s now time to see sense. The lands reserved at Thornton Hall for the CMH could by used for a good theraputic hospital wing for the new Mountjoy Prison.