The nun who set up an addiction centre in Newry that opened its doors 40 years ago this week has told of her “great joy” in helping thousands of desperate people turn their lives around.
Sr Consilio Fitzgerald established the Cuan Mhuire centre on the Armagh Road in Newry, Co Down, in 1984 to support individuals and their families in the grip of addiction.
Over the past four decades it has grown to become the largest addiction treatment organisation on the island of Ireland.
The Kerry-born Sisters of Mercy nun said it has been a “privilege” to offer a haven and support those “suffering from and tortured by addiction and to have played a role in the recovery.”
She also said that demand for their critical services had never been higher.
Cuan Mhuire now has around 539 beds in its five treatment centres and 103 transition beds.
Reflecting on the past 40 years and the impact Cuan Mhuire has had, Sr Consilio said she is honoured to have been involved in helping to “restore hope and change” to the lives of thousands of people across the north.
“It has been a great privilege for us to have been given the opportunity of welcoming so many people suffering from and tortured by addiction and to have played a role in the recovery and healing of these people as they journeyed day by day with the help of our programme, to leave behind their old ways, to make new beginnings and gradually become the beautiful people they were meant to be,” she said.
On Friday a ceremony to mark the 40th anniversary was held at the centre, which is now based on the Old Dublin Road in Newry.
Cuan Mhuire Newry provides a 12-week comprehensive abstinence-based residential addiction recovery treatment programme to people suffering from alcohol and gambling addiction and those at risk of becoming homeless due to their addiction.
Looking back over the past 40 years, Sr Consilio said that “from the very beginning we have reached out and helped, to the best of our abilities, the families of those whose loved ones are caught in addiction”.
“They know the pain, the powerlessness and desperation caused by such affliction,” she said.
“A very great deal has been achieved in these 40 years, Cuan Mhuire Newry - like the ‘mustard seed’ in the gospel - has grown.
“Thousands of individuals have passed through its doors and experienced a transformation in their lives which they carried out into their families and communities.
“During a difficult time in our history, and all our lives, Cuan Mhuire established itself as a great sign of unity.
“This unity is, first and last, focused on the individual person suffering from addiction and on the reality that, in their recovery transformation, we can begin to see the beauty of our God, in whose image we are all created.”
The ceremony on Friday also marked the official opening of 12 apartments at the site that provide support for those who are homeless or need more time to aid their recovery and minimise relapse.
Prior to this, once residents had completed the 12-week residential programme they were discharged to allow access for new residents.
Residents can avail of services that will enhance their chances of recovery and they can slowly ease themselves back to independent living in the community.
Sr Consilio said they continue to “strive to provide a highly professional and supportive environment within which individuals could recover, an environment of home and family where they could experience love, come to accept that they are fully deserving of that love, and, even more importantly that they had it within themselves to love others”.
“The demand for our critical services have never been higher, but I have no doubt that Cuan Mhuire, the ‘Harbour of Mary’, will continue to provide the welcome, the support, care and love that it has done so for this past 40 years,” she said.
Speaking to directors, staff and volunteers anniversary event First Minister Michelle O’Neill said: “The founders, volunteers, and staff deserve the highest praise for their unwavering dedication and tremendous work over these four decades.
“Their commitment has made a positive difference to the lives of over 25,000 people, providing not just treatment but hope and the chance of a new beginning in life.”
