The community nursing service in Doneraile was withdrawn with no explanation given to locals as to why, local councillors said as they vowed to fight to get the service back in the North Cork town.

Fermoy Cllr Frank O’Flynn described it as a vital service in the town with a population of around 900 as well as in the surrounding area, and he said its withdrawal leaves people with no option but to travel to Mallow, 10km away.

“This is a tremendous service in our local communities and the important thing is local accessibility to that service. That’s the most important thing for people who are older, who are feeble, who haven’t got transport and for young mothers as well,” he said at a meeting of Cork County Council this week.

“In Doneraile the HSE has decided to cease this service. The people of Doneraile recently lost their post office, they lost their GP and the one thing they had was the local community nurse.”

The Fianna Fáil councillor called on the local authority to write to the HSE and ask them to reconsider the decision.

“What we need is a local, accessible, community nurse for the people of Doneraile and the surrounding area. Doneraile is a growing area, and it’s quite a distance from Mallow, especially if you’ve no transport.”

“There was no consultation with anyone in the area, they just decided to close it. One Friday evening they decided to bring down the shutters and close it for no reason whatsoever,” he said.

He was supported by Cllr Kay Dawson, who said the service was well-used and “it’s important that we retain it, especially for the older generation in Doneraile.”

Cllr Neilus Cotter said he has been contacted by several people who are “very disappointed” about the withdrawal of the community nurse. “I strongly support Frank’s sentiments about it being unacceptable that people now have to go to Mallow.”

The council will now write to the HSE to call on it to give a commitment to providing public and health community nursing services and locally accessible clinic services throughout County Cork and also asking for the Doneraile community nursing service to be restored.

“It’s a vital service for rural Ireland and a vital service for Doneraile. If we lose it in Doneraile, and they get away with it we’ll lose it in other places too,” Cllr O’Flynn predicted.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.