Management at Lifeline Inishowen, a domestic violence service, are set to submit a final petition for reinstating funding at Leinster House on Wednesday, June 26.
The news comes as the service continues to financially struggle to keep its door, a struggle that has been ongoing over the previous nine years.
The centre, which helped over 46 women last year with domestic violence cases, has not been sanctioned government funding since 2011 despite the efforts of the centre over the last four years.
“Nothing has changed this year despite the ratification of the Istanbul convention, which is a legal instrument that focuses on combating violence against women and domestic violence,” Mary Doherty said.
“More services like Lifeline Inishowen should be welcomed and supported in rural Donegal.
“I do not understand why there cannot be sufficient national level coordination with Lifeline Inishowen, particularly since the outreach was created by the local community itself,” Doherty added.
The Inishowen group received only €3,200 out of the €650,000 Tusla funding granted in 2018, strictly for child counselling services.
“Lifeline Inishowen has been of great benefit to the patients of this practice over the last number of years. Our local community supports and depends upon it and we look forward to its continued presence in Inishowen,” said Dr Ken Devlin.
“Lifeline Inishowen is an essential service which is at the frontline providing services to vulnerable women and children.
“There have been significant improvements for the families involved. When children are in need of therapeutic services they need to be seen as soon as possible.”
Officials from the government insist the Donegal Women’s Centre in Letterkenny is suitable to cover the entire county, leaving those in Inishowen as far as 65km from the centre.
“The counselling service in Lifeline (Inishowen)has responded immediately and offered a service which meets the needs of each individual child and family,” highlights social worker, Annette Duffy.
“The service needs to continue in Inishowen given that Inishowen is very rural and families do not have transport to Letterkenny where most therapeutic services are placed.
“Should Lifeline cease to exist, I fear that children and families in Inishowen will lose a valuable service which will have a detrimental effect on their future development”
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