Call to restore funding for Mayo-based national charity

A Mayo councillor has called for the restoration of funding to a Kiltimagh-based national charity.

In a notice of motion to the October meeting of Mayo County Council, Cllr Adrian Forkan called on all councillors for their support “in seeking to have funding restored from the Department of Justice for Victim Assistance, based in Kiltimagh, so we can reach every person who falls victim of crime or traumatic incident, through no fault of their own". 

Cllr Forkan told the forum that the charity was founded in 2005 and offers a range of services to assist victims of crime and trauma, working closely with the gardaí, medical personnel and other services, as well as covering a huge part of the country. He said it has referrals from as far away as Carrick-on-Shannon and Gort, on top of the services it provides in Mayo, and it has even replied to calls from police authorities in the United Kingdom to help Irish citizens abroad.

However, he said the charity is struggling at the moment to pay rent as there has been a funding embargo in place since 2020, which was followed by the flagging of a governance issue by a previous board member. 

“This was thoroughly investigated and no wrongdoing was found. However, the service has lost one full-time and two part-time staff members and this delay in recruiting is impacting the training of volunteers and upskilling so that options for expansion and the opening of a sub office have been shelved.” 

Cllr Forkan, who is based in Kiltimagh, said the lack of funding and expansion is impacting the provision of service to victims.

"I am calling on the Minister for Justice to reallocate the funding that was embargoed. The €119,000 they receive for the work they do is a pittance. They are covering basically the whole country outside of Dublin, with a huge volume of calls every week.” 

Cathaoirleach Cllr John Caulfield seconded the motion and members agreed that the council would write to the minister requesting that full funding for the service be reinstated, with Cllr Blackie Gavin describing Victim Assistance as “a great organisation” and suggesting the motion be circulated to all local authorities.

Cllr Gavin stated: “The amount of volunteers in Victim Assistance is huge and it important there is funding there. No question they do great work, I know people who have had great assistance and we are lucky to have this charity based in our own county.”

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.