Dundalk Counselling Centre to receive €25K in Dormant Accounts funding

The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, on Friday announced the allocation of €25,000 in Dormant Accounts funding to Dundalk Counselling Centre.

The funding is part of a €700,000 package allocated to 37 community and voluntary organisations nationwide to help increase counselling, psychotherapy and therapeutic services to children and young people experiencing social and economic disadvantage in communities around Ireland, and to help address unmet need and reduce waiting lists for community-based counselling services. 

The aim of the fund is to increase counselling and psychotherapy and other therapy types (play, drama, art and creative therapy, bereavement support) to children and young people who are socially/economically disadvantaged and who without support cannot access these services.

Dundalk Counselling Centre was established in January 1982 initially in response to the distress caused by rampant unemployment at the time. The aim of the centre is to provide a professional, therapeutic counselling to all the community regardless of their social class, religious persuasion or race and with special emphasis on the socially deprived and disadvantaged, irrespective of their means.

Commenting on the €700k funding package on Friday, Minister O’Gorman said: "This measure will help to address improved accessibility and availability of counselling, psychotherapy, therapy services to disadvantaged children and young people around the country.

"Prevention and Early Intervention measures such as counselling, psychotherapy and therapeutic supports can improve the quality of children’s home lives and family relationships, increase educational attainment and support good mental health”.