Pieta House takes over Athlone counselling service

It was confirmed this week that Midlands Counselling Centre formerly operated by Console in Athlone will continue to operate under the management of Pieta House.

Two counsellors operate from the Irishtown facility, which is being contacted by a growing number of people according to Gerard Tiernan.

“The service is beginning to grow. Every day there are calls or letters from people looking for help. So we know the service is badly needed, and that’s not just people from Athlone.

“We’re getting people from all over the Midlands, from Tullamore, Mullingar and Ballinasloe. It really is a centre for the Midlands and that’s why it’s important that it was saved,' said Gerard, who worked for Console but is now a fundraiser for Pieta House. 

“This (Athlone centre) is very community-based. All the business people who came on board (to help establish it) donated funds or materials. People came in and painted the centre. It was for them. It wasn’t a 'Paul Kelly centre’ it was a really local, community effort,” he said.

Despite the Console crisis, the service remained open throughout the past month.

“The counsellors, even though many of them unfortunately weren’t getting paid, never stopped working. They wanted to help people. I think they deserve so much respect for doing that,” commented Gerard.

He said that clients were unlikely to be impacted by the transfer of services to Pieta House.

“A lot of the changes are behind the scenes, with IT systems and things like that, so it’s not going to affect clients or anyone looking for help,” he said.

* See this week's Westmeath Independent for full interview with Gerard Tiernan