At Monday’s county council meeting Cllr. Adrienne Wallace criticised the Chief Executive for not including the statistics on domestic violence in the county. At each council meeting the Chief Executive prepares a report that updates the elected reps on local issues from roads to homelessness. Cllr. Wallace was critical of the lack of information on those from Carlow who use Amber women’s refuge.
Cllr. Wallace said “Until Carlow gets its own refuge women and children fleeing violence in the home have to travel to Kilkenny’s women’s refuge yet the Chief Executive has never included these statistics in her report. It is incredibly insensitive and glosses over the harsh reality of so many women. We should be fighting the stigma surrounding domestic violence, having honest conversations about how prevalent it is in Ireland and encouraging those suffering in silence to speak up. 1 in 5 women in Ireland have been abused by a current or former partner and every month Carlow court is clogged with safety orders. The council should be helping lead the charge here instead of resting on their laurels.”
At last month’s council meeting Cllr Wallace put forward a motion calling for a representative from Tusla to come before the council to discuss the delay around securing a women’s refuge in Carlow. Tulsa decided to issue a briefing document to the council instead but cllr Wallace was critical that this was not forwarded to the councillors.
Cllr Wallace said “I had to directly email Tulsa to get this document which meant I had little time to read it before Monday’s meeting. This is despite the fact the council received it the Friday before. The document should have been forwarded to councillors when it was released. If I hadn’t directly emailed the CEO of Tulsa I might never have received it. The council needs to be a lot more proactive about the fight for a women’s refuge.”
The Carlow Women’s Refuge Campaign Group has organised a rally on Saturday December 14th at 2pm at the fountain on Potato Market. Fr. Peter McVerry will be speaking alongside a number of local speakers and live music.
