The annual report for 2021 for Coolmine was launched on 15 November 2022.1 The launch was held in Ashleigh House, Dublin, which is Coolmine’s residential service for women and children. Ashleigh House is part of a suite of addiction services provided by the organisation, offering community and day services, as well as residential services for women and their children, and men. Services are delivered across 13 facilities, including those in the Mid-West and South West, which were established in 2021.

Period of growth and increasing need
The speakers at the launch of the annual report were Alan Connolly, chairman of the board of directors at Coolmine; Pauline McKeown, chief executive of Coolmine; Rachel Galvin, graduate of Coolmine Ashleigh House, and Matt Cooper, journalist and broadcaster. Speakers emphasised the ongoing commitment to Coolmine’s vision in which it ‘believes that everyone should have the opportunity to overcome addiction and lead a fulfilled and productive life’.

Alan Connolly spoke of the organisation going through a period of growth, with its expansion in the Mid-West and South West regions during 2021. In managing this growth, the organisation remains committed to providing high-quality services that produce enduring outcomes of quality for the people who use them.

Pauline McKeown emphasised the increased demand on their services and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the experiences of people seeking help. The pandemic brought about a period in which people struggled to sustain their social and recovery capital, which in turn negatively impacted on people’s recovery. The year 2021 was a period of expansion for Coolmine, with a strong emphasis in 2022 of ensuring the appropriate governance was in place to manage a growing organisation.

Rachel Galvin spoke powerfully of her recovery journey and the support she received from Coolmine. She described the ‘sense of home’ she found during her time in Ashleigh House.

Two issues of concern raised by speakers and reiterated by the final speaker Matt Cooper were:

• The ongoing inequity in the salaries of Coolmine’s service providers when compared with their equivalents in State-run services.
• A need for funding to be able to reinstate the delivery of a community-based Parents Under Pressure (PuP) programme, which had been delivered in 2021 with the support of a grant from Rethink Ireland.

Highlights of report
Among the highlights of the report on Coolmine’s activities for 2021 were:

• 1,885 individuals accessed support from Coolmine’s services.
• There was an 85% retention rate in the Ashleigh House service – 63 women were supported through the service, including 18 mother-and-child residential placements, and 30 children provided with a full-time early years and preschool service.
• There was a 76% retention rate in Coolmine Lodge, which provides a residential service for men. Some 90 men were supported, 27% of whom were from the probation/prison services.
• 57 people from the Traveller community were supported by the services.
• 118 individuals were worked with in Coolmine Mid-West, which achieved a 100% retention rate for its Reduce the Use and PuP programmes.

1    Coolmine (2022) Coolmine annual report 2021. Dublin: Coolmine. https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/37483/