Sinn Féin spokesperson on Justice, Matt Carthy, has welcomed that some progress is finally being made on delivering a domestic violence refuge in his constituency of Cavan Monaghan.
However, speaking after the first stage of a funding application was approved for a refuge in Cavan Monaghan, Deputy Carthy said that progress was too slow and demanded that the government live up to the commitment to deliver a domestic violence refuge in every county.
He said: “It is outrageous that there has been no domestic violence refuge in either counties Cavan or Monaghan for so long. This has been a long-standing demand that I have articulated on multiple occasions in my time as a TD and an issue which I have raised with successive government ministers.
"More recently, I also raised this matter directly with Stephanie O’ Keefe, CEO of Cuan, the government agency for sexual, domestic and gender-based violence.
“The lack of refuge places in these two counties has meant that victims of domestic violence had nowhere to go. Many women were forced to move to other counties at huge disruption to them and their children. Many others have been trapped in violent and dangerous situations.
"The housing crisis has also made this situation much worse for those trying to get out of violent relationships," Deputy Carthy added.
According to the Cavan-Monaghan TD, any progress on delivering domestic violence refuge in the constituency is welcome, but he said that the process is taking too long.
“The government had previously promised to deliver a domestic violence refuge in every county. The distance from one end of County Monaghan to the other end of County Cavan is so immense it is not practical to suggest that a refuge in one county can serve two into the long term, so government must live up its commitment to deliver one refuge per county," Deputy Carthy said.
“As for the Monaghan domestic violence refuge, there must be urgency in bringing this project to fruition. Far too often we get announcements and yet progress is painfully slow. Those who need access to a domestic violence refuge simply cannot afford to wait," he added.
