Galway Rape Crisis Centre plans move to new building

A visitor to the Galway Rape Crisis Centre once remarked to its Executive Director, Cathy Connolly, that he didn’t like its location, tucked away in a corner of the Forster Court estate.

The well-known Galway sportsman, who was helping the charity with a project, felt it was ‘like you’re hiding away’.

Ms Connolly, while very grateful to COPE Galway for allowing GRCC to base itself there for the past seven-plus years, understood what he meant.

“It all ties in with the shame and the guilt around sexual violence,” she said, while chatting from a physical distance at the Centre.

But the Centre will be moving to a much more public and prominent position in Galway City, conditional on planning permission being granted by Galway City Council in July.

It’s a homecoming of sorts because the Galway Rape Crisis Centre is returning to its roots at Claddagh Quay, overlooking the Claddagh Basin opposite Long Walk.

The organisation has lodged a planning application to knock and rebuild a three-bedroom house it owns beside the Fire Station and Judo Club on the western side of the quay, which it outgrew before moving to Forster Court.

“We can’t pretend it’s (sexual violence) not happening but we are very conscious of people’s privacy,” said Ms Connolly when asked about the increased visibility of the planned new purpose-built centre for clients and 30-strong staff, including counsellors.

“Our core service is counselling victims or survivors of rape and sexual violence and abuse. There’ll be no problem with privacy. No big sign outside, clients will be let in discreetly; there’ll be a side-entrance if anyone wants to use it, and we wouldn’t let people out if they’re upset anyway. We had 4,000 appointments last year; they’re not coming in throngs, we can spread it out over five days,” she said.

GRCC was founded in 1984 by a group of Galway women concerned about the lack of services for survivors of sexual abuse and rape.

It was initially based at Mary Street, and subsequently Claddagh, and now its current base adjacent to the former Magdalen Laundry building.

“COPE has very kindly let us stay here for as long as we need to. We’re very grateful for the support and we’re looking forward to moving because they need the building. We are here until we have our new home built,” said Ms Connolly.

The project will cost about €1.3 million and GRCC already has a head-start.

“We have about €250,000 or €300,000 of it from Lifes2good Foundation, James and Maria Murphy, who founded it, and their CEO Maurice McQuillan, from Athenry, have been very good to us. We basically have to fundraise €1 million plus. It really is the people of Galway who we’ll be relying on,” she said.

Mark Flanagan, MD of the electrical and mechanical engineering Kirby Group, will supply services without charge when building starts.

Eugene Mulcaire and Owen Coughlan of urbanARQ Architects have designed the new three-storey building, also free of charge. “It’s sympathetic to the surroundings,” said Ms Connolly.

“The building is needed to house the service. We own the site. We’re knocking the building and trying to build a brand-new purpose-built building to house a counselling service. We operate regular hours, we’re quiet, it won’t put anybody out, it’s respectful of the neighbourhood. We’re just putting a better building in,” she said.

GRCC is the second busiest in the country after Dublin, and supports survivors from all over Galway, as well as North Clare and South Roscommon. It has outreach services in Ballinasloe, Oughterard and Gort.

“We’re spreading our tentacles but we want a home base,” she said. “I think a fresh, clean, bright purpose-built place where counsellors could make it our own would be good for survivors. It’s there forever then, belonging to the people of Galway.”

Ms Connolly, who has already contacted Claddagh residents and shared the plans with neighbours, said the beautiful setting would be uplifting for clients.

“We deal a lot with historical abuse. I was on the radio one day and this man came to the door afterwards and said ‘I heard you on the radio, it’s taken me fifty-something years to get the courage to come in’. He had been abused as a young lad. A lot of the historical abuse is people my age, who didn’t deal with it and it’s taken forty or fifty years to come in and they’re getting counselling.

“All they’re doing is coming in to talk; it’s nothing that anyone should be afraid of. We’re run as a professional service and we want a professional purpose-built building that really suits the clients.

“These are sons and daughters of Galway people – they’re not from out of space, they’re people’s brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grannies, mums and dads,” she added.