Our History & Heritage
I am honoured to write this welcome on behalf of each individual using the service who, with the support of family and friends, are living where and with whom they wish to live, whether at home with family or having moved to a home of their own or having journeyed from institutional living to living at home in their chosen locality or are currently on that journey.
I am also proud to do so on behalf of the leadership and support teams who have been part of this journey which we commenced in 2011 in partnership with and supported by the Religious Sisters of Charity. In 2011, we developed our first decongregation strategy, creating the pathway for the closure of the residential institution at Donnybrook and the reconfiguration to individualised person-led service offerings that flexibly respond to their choice and needs throughout their life.
This partnership of change that started in 2011, with St Margaret’s Donnybrook taking the first steps in the move from the residential medical model of care to rights-based, individualised supports, was aligned with and implemented the HSE National Policy “Time to Move on from Congregated Settings – A Strategy for Community Inclusion” (2011).
Staff members with the last residents of St. Margarets.
By the middle of 2019 the last women at Donnybrook completed their move to their own home with significant support from Dublin City Council, Approved Housing Bodies and Housing Cooperatives, while others took the momentous step to move from their family home to a home of their own. Having your own home provides the basis for security and comfort and a sense of belonging and connection. Moving to their own home means that each person can take their rightful place in their community. We continue to support others who have since travelled and are travelling that pathway.
In 2019 St. Margaret’s also transitioned from the Religious Sisters of Charity to become the new fledgling independent not-for-profit limited company and a registered charity – IRL-IASD CLG, trading as St. Margaret’s. This move was completed in partnership with the HSE and the Religious Sisters of Charity. The new name was chosen to represent continuity and reflect our fundamental belief of everyone’s right to exercise their Independence, Autonomy, Self-Direction (IASD). Through our stakeholder consultation we developed our 2021-2025 Strategy Framework and the focus on a network of individualised services emerged which is reflected in our new trading name – St. Margaret’s Network.
Today we work in partnership with the HSE, local authorities and approved housing bodies, the National Advocacy Service, and other sectoral partners, to support individuals to live a good life of their choosing at home and in their community. Through our consultation process we developed the vision, mission and values to inspire us to action and change in the way we work with people.
In pursuit of this goal, we will:
In pursuit of this goal we will:
