After a campaign of almost 20 years, Wexford is finally to have its own women's refuge.
The purpose-built centre on Distillery Road, with four family-size units for women who experience domestic violence, is due to open by the end of the month.
It will provide safe accommodation for some of the women who contact a helpline or call to a drop-in centre run by the Wexford Women's Refuge company. About four or five women call the helpline every day and a similar number use the drop-in centre, but this rises at peak times such as Christmas. The helpline was set up in May 1998 following consultations between the South Eastern Health Board, Wexford local authorities, Wexford Area Partnership, Respond, the St Vincent de Paul Society, the Garda and the Wexford Women's Action Group.
Ms Betty Doyle, who manages the drop-in centre on George's Street and will also run the new refuge, says the numbers using the existing service demonstrate the need for a refuge.
"We work with the reality of domestic violence," she says. Typically a woman would have been assaulted the previous night and would contact the centre for support and information.
At present, women who urgently need to leave home are referred to Wexford County Council's housing officer, Mr Niall McDonnell, who tries to find emergency accommodation.
"If we don't have a refuge, all I can do when people come in to my office is use the private sector," says Mr McDonnell. "So obviously we have a vested interest in having a refuge in town which is suitable for women's needs in emergency situations. Placing them in bed-and-breakfasts, which they have to leave in the mornings, is not satisfactory."
Other options are to rent accommodation from the voluntary housing group Respond, while some women are referred to the St Vincent de Paul Society hostel on Francis Street, where volunteers have provided a service for women in need for many years. The hostel, however, is designed to cater for homeless people.
The refuge is on the site of a new housing scheme on Distillery Road and the space for it was provided free by Wexford Borough Council. A capital grant of £275,000 was provided by the Department of the Environment and Local Government, which has also contributed £80,000 towards the running costs.
Substantially more funding will be required, however, from the Department of Health and Children, to provide the centre with the professional staff, including childcare workers, to run it at full capacity. The Department has allocated about €75,000 (£59,000) to the south east this year for rape crisis and counselling services and existing refuges, but a fully staffed refuge in Wexford alone would cost about €320,000 (£252,000) a year to run. Despite the concern over funding, the management committee decided last week that Wexford had waited long enough for a refuge; women's groups first identified the need for one in 1984. It was decided the centre should be opened as soon as the building is ready, albeit with fewer staff than required.
The refuge will cater for Wexford's large rural population but ultimately, says Mr McDonnell, similar centres will be required in other towns in the county.
The refuge company helpline number is 1800 220 444. The drop-in centre will transfer from George's Street to Distillery Road when the refuge opens.
