I had a meeting with senior Personnel in St Michaels House on Monday 19th October as arranged. It went as I would have predicted- very little progress made. I asked could I join the Family and Parent Council – but I was refused this request – they said the rules and regulations of the Council would not permit this. They also acknowledeged that the Family and Parent Councils had failed after 2 years. This does not surprise me as the reasons for setting up the councils is unclear and could not be explained to me at the meeting.

The culture within St Michaels house is so uninspiring and lethargic that meetings held there always leave one frustrated. They are negative and most time is spent discussing why things cannot be done. There is no “can do” approach. The organisation as a whole would appear to be extremely poorly managed with no accountability within the organisation whatsoever. It is high time the HSE reviewed the remit of the organsiation and how it is managed.

Reluctantly they have agreed to ask the Board of Management of St Michaels House Special Needs School in Skerries to consider setting up a committee to spearhead the New School Project – and again reluctantly – they will consider allowing me become a member of this committee. When they say it has taken them 20 years so far – not to build a new school – I can fully understand why!!!

Nevertheless I will be forming a new Parents Association in 2010 that will ensure that parents have much more influence on the running of St Michaels House and ensure that it becomes more accountable. Further details on this initiative to follow.

A meeting has been arranged with St Michaels House for Monday 19th October 2009. This long overdue meeting is welcomed – and I sincerley hope that unlike other meetings that have taken place with St Michael’s House- this meeting will prove fruitful! There are a number of Public Representatives awaiting the outcome of this meeting so that they and we can decide how best to progress this Campaign.

And still we wait! We have been promised a meeting with St Michaels House – the planned meeting was arranged for Wed 16th September but it was cancelled due to unforseen circumstances. I have no problem with that – but I do have a problem with the fact that I have not been contacted by anybody from St Michaels House since then and thus the promised meeting is not even scheduled yet.

This is another very good example of how slowly and inefficiently this organisation works and illustrates how woefully inadeqate communication within the organisation is!