NOVAS director Daniel Clery, has accused city councillor’s of generating fear among residents at Vereker Gardens, off Ennis Road, and has won the support of Cllr Tom Shortt, who has spoken in favour of the charity’s Limerick operation.
At a meeting of Limerick City Council, several councillors raised the issue of a planning application from NOVAS to modify a house in Vereker Gardens, the story having first appeared in the Limerick Post, when resident Michael Murphy voiced concerns.
Said Mr Clery: “When NOVAS is mentioned they start attacking the clients that our services facilitate”.
“When you dismantle what they were saying, it’s emotive and not fact based, and they are generating fear. It’s disturbing that these councillors are inciting the residents of Vereker Gardens”.
Councillor Tom Shortt, supported this argument: “There has been a lot of misinformation and misrepresentation on this house. They are not actually adding anything…they are implementing a reorganisation for care workers by moving two bedrooms to reclaim recreational space on the first floor”.
Added Mr Clery: “The house in question operates as part of the organisation’s DIAL (Disability Independent Assisted Living) programme, which will fail if it’s not implemented in the correct environment”.
“Crucial to this particular programme is location, because it is important to live in a settled stable community. The people housed there cannot be placed at risk in areas where there are social problems”.
He claimed there were no complaints recorded about this house during it’s first two and half years in operation: “These people do not cause social problems in the area, and there are no behavioural complaints on record”.
He explained that the five residents were in their teens, that alcohol consumption is prohibited and substance abuse does not feature.
Councillor Shortt, who said he had looked closely at the operations of NOVAS, echoed this assessment: “These young people are concerned that they would not cause any nuisance to their neighbours. They are well regulated”.
He complimented the work of the organisation, and expressed his concern at it being persistently attacked: “I’m impressed with the staffing levels that they have and the programmes they operate which are well worked out and well formulated”.
Stating that NOVAS had been transparent in their application, he questioned the motivations of his fellow councillors that raised the issue: “There’s great accountability and transparency in this NOVAS house. What are we doing… are we going to go back to the Magdalene Laundries and institutions?”
Mr Clery concluded: “By virtue of the fact that these people are disabled, it’s incumbent on the council to take care of them”.
