The agency has agreed to rent the Boylan Centre and St Mary’s Hall from St Michael’s Parish which notified parishioners only last Sunday of the move.
The parish had previously attempted to sell the Boylan Centre to a property developer but the sale collapsed.
Director of Crosscare Conor Hickey has defended the expenditure which was originally forecast to be 300k according to documentation seen by this paper. “…the development of the Boylan centre and parish hall is a great opportunity for us to have a central base in Dunlaoghaire which will be the hub of our service provision in the area. Following the initial outlay of refurbishment costs which will run close to €250k we will to be able to recoup this money over the next few years through savings in rent. This will turn our initial capital spend into significant savings year on year. This development makes sound financial sense and allows us to maximise use of a brilliantly located facility which will be of a standard that both Crosscare and the Parish of Dunlaoghaire will be proud of.”
However it is not clear if Crosscare will recoup their investment should the parish decide to put the properties back on the market but it appears that the parish have agreed to house Crosscare in any new centre that they might buy or build.
Meanwhile, plans are being considered by Crosscare to incorporate as a separate legal entity.
“We are currently exploring all that incorporation would involve and how it would potentially impact on our services, staff and volunteers. The relationship between Crosscare and the Archdiocese is very strong and regardless of what changes we make to our governance structures, Crosscare will continue to be an agency of the Dublin Archdiocese,” Mr Hickey said.
Last year the youth agency of the Dublin Diocese, CYC, was subsumed into Crosscare.