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A Loughgilly man is at the end of his tether following news from the Southern Trust that a care package for his two sons with severe learning disabilities was to be discontinued by them from yesterday, 31 March 2026.
On top of this bombshell, he has been informed the alternative options being offered are Direct Payments or two full-time places in a home, something he is adamant will not happen.
Alphie Lonergan, 84 was left a widower following the death of his beloved wife Nellie (nee Meehan) in September 1984 at Daisy Hill Hospital. She had gone into labour with high blood pressure and was given a Syntometrine injection. Within 43 hours she had died of a brain haemorrhage, with Alphie left to look after four children from 1 day old to 10 years old.
Watchmaker
Alphie is well known in the Newry area as a Watchmaker, having started his career in McWhirters in Sugar Island, Newry before setting up shop at his Loughgilly home. He has retired in recent years but still likes to work at the odd timepiece for the theraputic benefit as much as anything, though finding the time for it now will be difficult to say the least.
Severe learning disabilities
Sons Donall now 48 and Ronan, 41 have severe learning disabilities while Donall also has autism and severe OCD so both need constant care, something that Alphie has carried out with the help of a 3 hour morning domiciliary care package via the Southern Trust.
The two boys are at Cairnmount Daycare Centre in Newry from 10am to 3pm Monday to Friday and they are picked up in a taxi.
Care Package
Over the years a three-hour week day morning care package for his sons was in place getting them ready for their day, doing laundry, cleaning and washing associated with their additional needs. In November 2023 this was reduced to just one hour a day for Donall while Ronan's package was terminated. Fast forward 15 months and Alphie’s daughter Roisin received a phone call on 10 March - not even a letter - as Alphie points out, saying that Donall’s remaining 1 hr weekday morning care package would be ceasing on 31 March.
Strangely a Domiciliary Care Monitoring Officer called out to the house on Friday past to ask Alphie if he was happy enough with the package and the way things are being done. He told them "I'm awfully surprised that you're out asking me that and me fighting with the Trust so long telling them I'm not happy, and secondly I can't see the point in it when I'm losing it in two days."
"Imagine asking daddy, three days before the package was due to finish was he happy with the care?" added Roisin.
The Trust’s explanation was they ‘were doing further monitoring to see if there is any time that is underutilised that could be allocated to Donall’ "but sure why were they checking it with the person they were cutting it off from" said Roisin.
The family asked for someone from the Trust to come out and explain things to the boys. Alphie explains "I didn't want the boys thinking I did something wrong and lost it and I also didn't want them thinking they did something wrong and lost it so I said just tell them yourselves."
Alphie explains that yesterday morning "Donall kept saying to the carer, Mary* will be here in the morning. Mary will be here in the morning, like a broken record". "She was emotional herself and she had to keep changing the subject - she didn't want to tell him no" he added.
Stunned
His two daughters Katrina and Roisin are stunned that their father who has a pacemaker fitted and would most likely be eligible for some care hours himself is left in a position instead at 84 years of age to take on the heavy work and tend to their needs full time with no morning support.
Both women have their own children and full-time jobs and do what they can. Katrina says, “It isn't possible to get our own children out to school at the same time our brothers need their care so they are ready on time”. When someone from Domiciliary Care or the Trust visits their father Alphie needs one of his daughters present as he says he “has lost complete confidence in the Trust”.
When Alphie took ill resulting in his pacemaker being installed the two boys were so worried about their daddy that they were ill "We were trying to manage Daddy and then you have the boys vomiting and needing extra care because they're so annoyed" Roisin explains.
Heavy workload
The workload would be very stressful for anyone never mind an older person and from today Alphie is left to get the two boys up, washed, ready and out for their taxi every weekday for 9.30am.
Daughter Katrina said "It boils down to the fact you cannot expect an 84-year-old man to get two disabled boys with severe learning disabilities out on his own." Again Alphie emphasised the importance of this morning package being reinstalled.
Health
Donall's mobility has got worse recently and he has bother with his back and hip.
Alphie's daughters know that for their father to be in the caring role he's in he needs to be on top of his own health and that includes appointments here and there. In the past when they happened, as many of them do, first thing in the morning, he was able to attend because the carer was there until the boys got the taxi but that's now gone and the uncertainty of how to work early morning appointments is another concern.
A home is not an option
Explaining that both options put forward by the Trust are not options at all Katrina adds "We're saying the boys are both in their 40s, the home is not an option. Direct Payments is like running a business we have to provide invoices every month. You have to do a payroll. You've to pay staff. You've to employ staff. The point is that the trust can't get staff - where are we getting them". The family sourced a local care agency with availability for the 3 hour package but this was declined by the Trust despite the agency already working with the Trust.
A third possible option was mentioned to them in recent days that would involve employing a private agency who might be able to run it themselves but that option could be months away and what happens until then?
3hr morning Care Package
Ultimately a return to the 3 hour morning care package that was in place up to November 2023 is what Alphie and the boys need. Late yesterday evening the family were informed that the Trust are keeping the 1 hour care for five more days!
Carrying out his wife's last wishes
Alphie is really concerned about what the next few weeks and months hold. "I'll just take a day at a time, but it's very very stressful - It's desperate" He finished by saying “my wife Nellie’s last words were 'I’m sorry about this Alphie look after the children'. This is why I will continue to carry out her wishes and get what my sons rightly deserve”
- 9am 2/4/26 - The Southern Trust have been asked for comment
Update 8.30pm 2/4/26 Statement from Southern Trust
"We apologise to this family for the distress and worry caused by the recent decision to withdraw their home care package.
This decision was necessary due to the lack of available social care staff to be able to continue with the service in this rural area. Social care, like many other professions, is experiencing workforce pressures, particularly in rural areas where it is more difficult to recruit and retain staff.
There are challenging and complex circumstances involved in this case and our dedicated team is continuing to work to find alternative options for this family. We will work directly with them and ensure they are kept updated on options/developments.
We have been able to secure some additional staffing support to temporarily allow us to continue to provide support to the family until after Easter. We continue to actively pursue a range of potential options to maintain the service for this family; including continuously reviewing rotas in the Armagh and surrounding areas to see if we can create additional capacity as well as linking with other multidisciplinary teams to seek support. We have also checked with our staff working in other areas to see if they can do additional work in the area where this family lives, but with no uptake yet.
We are continuously working to actively recruit staff. We had a recruitment drive in Armagh on 26 March to increase the number of Home Care staff in the Armagh and surrounding areas and we are actively processing the successful applicants through the final stages of their recruitment process.
We greatly value the contribution of and proactively work with our Independent Sector Home care providers to find solutions to help as many local people as possible to remain at home. Regrettably they are unable to support us with providing a service to this family.
The Southern Trust, like other Trusts, is facing enormous and rapidly increasing challenges in meeting the significant and rising demand for Home care services, as demand continues to outstrip supply. Despite the pressures, our hard-working Home Care staff across both the Trust and Independent Sector continue to work tirelessly supporting over 5,000 people in their own homes, every day."
