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MLA Liz Kimmins has paid tribute to the Cuan Mhuire addiction centre during Assembly business at Stormont on Tuesday 7 May. The centre celebrates 40 years of help and support in 2024. The Newry and Armagh representative quoted the latest NISRA report which documents over 600 deaths as a result of drugs and alcohol, two thirds men.
Ms Kimmins explained that on 29 June 1984, Kerry-born nun Sister Consilio Fitzgerald opened Cuan Mhuire addiction centre on the Armagh Road in Newry. "Sister Consilio and the staff of Cuan Mhuire are hugely respected and appreciated by families and communities from all traditions and backgrounds."
The facility is now based at a new state-of-the-art facility on the Old Dublin Road at Killeen. The Former Mayor of Newry and Mourne and past resident of Cuan Mhuire Pat McGinn ran the Belfast marathon at the weekend in support of the facility Ms Kimmins added.
She concluded "We undoubtedly owe a lot to Sister Consilio and her small group of dedicated and committed helpers who, with her, founded the Harbour of Mary/Cuan Mhuire in Newry. Many local people were so good to Sister Consilio in those early days and over the years, and she deeply appreciated that. We mark the 40th anniversary of Cuan Mhuire in Newry, and I know just how huge the facility's impact has been. I celebrate it with everyone involved in Cuan Mhuire and pay tribute to them."
