Local contractor appointed for first phase of much-needed £3million Women’s Aid Early Intervention Centre in Newry

A Northern Ireland contractor has been appointed for first phase of new £3million Women’s Aid Early Intervention Centre in Newry.

Colm Meehan & Co. Ltd based in Newry will deliver a Centre of Excellence in the city, providing support services for women, children and young people impacted by domestic abuse.

Following a tender process, the contractor was appointed to deliver the redevelopment of number 5 Downshire Road in the city. This will be Phase 1 of 3, for the first of its kind domestic abuse support centre in NI, providing a wide range of specialised programmes and support services.

Recently Women’s Aid Armagh Down launched a capital fundraising plan to help fund the project which has to date received £360,000 capital & revenue funding from Community Ownership through the Department for Levelling Up; £25,000 from the Pilgrim’s Trust and £50,000 from Garfield Weston Trust. The organisation hopes to raise the remaining balance over the next 12- 24 months through grant support, charitable giving and corporate fundraising.

Eileen Murphy, CEO Women’s Aid Armagh Down, said: “We are delighted to have Colm Meehan & Co. on board for our ELEOS Project. This has been an ambition of Women’s Aid Armagh Down for such a long time and it is almost overwhelming to see it start coming to fruition. It is particularly poignant to be announcing this when we are remembering the 25 women murdered in Northern Ireland since 2020. One woman murdered, is one too many.

“We owe it to the increasing number of women and children in our society who are victims of domestic abuse to be able to help at the earliest stage possible.

“At present with more than 2,000 women accessing our services in Armagh Down alone in the last year, we are completely oversubscribed. We need the space and the facilities to help prevent women and children ending up in life threatening situations.”

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Eileen continued: “This is a huge undertaking for us, but our buildings are very old and falling apart. A woman impacted by the trauma of domestic abuse needs to feel safe when she arrives with us and we need to instil a sense of confidence and hope for her.

"At present while we are doing our best, it’s difficult to ignore the cold and the wet damp walls while the cost of keeping the heating on is frightening. We sincerely hope that the business community and those bodies with control of capital funding will support us in this urgent work. We want to deliver a world class facility for women and their children right across this island to really make a difference in our attempts to be the change and eliminate violence against women and children.”