Carlow Older Persons’ Council are 'fighting' for new premises

“FOR us now, the talking is finished,” said Marina DaCosta of the impending eviction of Carlow Older Persons’ Council (COPC), of which she is a committee member, from Avoca House in Carlow town.

The COPC (formerly called the Older Persons’ Forum) has over 600 members from all over Co Carlow and operates weekly information clinics, group activities and signposting services. Its wood-panelled cabin is tucked at the back of the old schoolhouse on Barrack Street, surrounded by what Marina described as an “innovative, visionary garden” created by the Elderflower Garden Club.

But all the planters, some 600 “horrendously heavy” flowerpots and garden structures, will have to be taken down and removed before the first day of September, when the rental agreement for the gardening group and community hub expires.

The COPC has operated out of the Avoca House site alongside SIPTU since 2018, as has the Dementia Café, the Talking Heads aphasia group and Parkinson’s Support Group. The garden club was set up at the end of 2022 following the pandemic and used one of the rooms in the building as a kitchen and storage area.

The two groups discovered they would have to leave because the lease on the building was up two years ago and they have been searching for an alternative place to move to – together and separately – since then.

“When we were asked to leave, you can imagine it was just terrifying and the whole of our committee was in disarray, saying ‘where are we going to go’,” said Marina.

“We have tried so hard to find another place, you know, with a small, little building on it, with the garden attached to it so we can just start functioning again. But there isn’t anything like that,” she explained.

Marina and the committee considered the possibility of using the O’Brien Centre on Greenbank Road, which is owned by trustees of Carlow Senior Citizens’ Association. It even had an adjoining piece of land that could be used as a garden.

They made multiple attempts to communicate with the committee and trustees but did not succeed in developing a relationship, much to their frustration.

They later found out the association had sold the piece of adjoining land, deepening their predicament.

The Elderflower Club is considering storing some of its plants and tools at Shaw Park, owned by Carlow Tidy Towns, but there are no toilets or running water, which makes it unsuitable as a long-term set up.

“It’s been very disheartening and confusing and soul destroying, to say the least,” said Helen Fanning, who was on the COPC committee and an active member of the gardening club.

“It could be so simple. The premises are there. The facilities are there for the garden club. Why not work together as opposed to not? It’s so much easier, and at this stage of everybody’s lives nobody needs the stress,” said vice-chairperson of the COPC Trish Doyle.

Marina described the O’Brien Centre as “under-utilised”, based on an energy audit she completed a year ago as Carlow’s sustainable energy communities co-ordinator. “We want to rent a space from them because they only use it for a couple of days,” she said.

“We are not there to take it over; we’re there to work in partnership,” added COPC chairperson Joe Butler, who is also a committee member of Carlow Senior Citizens’ Association, which owns the O’Brien Centre.

A founding member of the association, Michael Purcell, explained to The Nationalist that while it halved in membership during the pandemic, the centre still caters for around 100 older people, sending out food parcels, holding social events and making meals. They rent out the large hall at weekends to the Grace Family International Church.

“She can go anywhere, but not here,” said Michael. “We’re too busy.” 

Chairperson of the association, Ger Shaw, also noted that there will be construction going on in the building over the next few months as they retrofit and futureproof it.

“I wish them the best, honest to God. There’s no conflict,” said Michael, with Ger agreeing.

But without a new place to set up a COPC hub “we are going to dismantle and all of the good work for the entire county would just be gone to waste,” said Marina.

The volunteer-run garden and community hub are vital community supports for the 13,000 people over the age of 65 years old living in the county. Last year, the COPC won an award from Age Friendly Alliance for its communication strategies, which involved hosting expos of groups and supports across the county.

“It’s so important for their mental health and for their overall health that they have somewhere like they’ve had before to come and get together and have their meetings and, maybe, have a chat about what’s going on in their lives and to create a beautiful space,” said Trish.

The efforts of the COPC volunteers “are saving the state, the council, so much money. These groups are essential, but it’s essential that they’re kept together because they’re used to it and we connect them to all the services,” Trish continued.

“The need for this space needs to be recognised by the council and the people of Carlow,” she said.

Joe is on the national executive of the Age Friendly Alliance and said the executive “always ask what’s going on in Carlow. It’s a compliment for what we’re doing.” 

The COPC spearheaded the introduction of age-friendly car parking spaces, which have been rolled out around the country.

“It’s so frustrating to come from that level to be sitting here fighting for a premises in the town that you’ve done so much work for,” said Trish.