Corporate Structure & History
Board of Directors
The Board has ultimate responsibility for the governance of the Association and it’s services.
Our current Chairperson of the Association is Mr Conor Scott.
Our Current Board of Members
Mr. Conor Scott, Chairperson, Mr. Bernard Barry, Secretary, Mr. Paddy Cadell, Treasurer, Mr. Pat Carey, Ms. Miriam O’Mahony-Toohey, Mr. Joe Keane and Ms. Mary Smith.
Management
Jacqui Maher is the services manager.
History of St Cronans
Our main centre situated in Roscrea is built on the site which was the original front of the former Roscrea workhouse. Following its closure in the 1970’s the site was given by the Mid Western Health Board to a small group of people who in 1977 formed St. Cronan’s Workshop Ltd. for people with disabilities. Still with us today are two of our founder members who together with seven others make up our Board of Directors.
In 1986 the Board completed the building of a custom facility which is still today our main Centre. We employ 42 staff, both full time and temporary and provide services to 120 Service Users.
The ethos of our organisation is to be person centred in the uniqueness of the individual and their rights to maximise their full potential. Our beliefs are firmly rooted in Christian values, which respect a person’s rights, dignity and independence. St. Cronan’s is a Community Organisation providing high quality services to people with disabilities and their families.
The service operated effectively as a Sheltered and Training workshop for persons from North Tipperary, Laois and Offaly. In 1994 the Association dropped the word “Workshop” from its title and became St. Cronans Association Ltd. In 2001 the Board of Management identified the need to re-define the ethos of our service in the context of overall developments in the region and to tailor our service to the meet the needs of our population now and into the foreseeable future.
In this regard the Board of Directors launched a complete review of the Association’s services, the objective being to develop a Strategic Plan. To facilitate this process a “Steering Group” led by Dr. Miriam O’Mahony-Toohey was appointed to work in association with Senior Management and an independent NSSB facilitator Mr. Pat Moloney.
Terms of Reference were issued by the Board of Directors and over the following year all the necessary information was collected and collated.
The following was a summary of the additional services required by both the Service Users and their families:
- More Localised Services
- Supported / Open Employment
- Elder Care Programme
- Sport/Recreation Programme (expansion of same)
- Social Interaction Programme
- Development of an appropriate Day Care Activation programme.
Over the years we have made significant adjustments to our service in order to address the unmet needs of our Service Users that we identified in 2001.
Rehabilitative Training and Sheltered Services remain the core services of our organisation, but we consider best practice when services are tailored to meet the individual needs of Service User’s rather than the Service User meeting the needs of the service. To this end we secured and implemented the ISO 9001:2000 Certification and HACCP standards that guide and regulate our service provision.
In conjunction with professionals from Trinity College, Dublin we use the “PATH” model to facilitate the identification of Service User needs and develop service plans accordingly. With the support of the Employers in our local community many of our Service Users have fulfilled their dream of working and receiving a wage like everyone else.
We developed a programme for our more mature clients “Wind in the Willows” the aim of which is to use a holistic approach to provide a range of activities that enhance the quality and meaning of Service Users every day life. Again, community integration is very much to the fore of this programme.
Sport and Recreation now cater for eighty clients and with the help of “People in Need” we were able to equip our gym with the most suitable and modern equipment on the market.
Our Service Users with more specific requirements avail of our Day Care Activation Programme. This programme is very varied and many of the modules are imparted on a one to one basis to ensure the Service User achieves maximum benefit.
With all our programmes Social Interaction is a priority and we aim to give people the opportunity to interact and participate in community life regardless of their geographical locations and family constraints. With this in mind we addressed the requirement for more localised services to be provide in both Nenagh and Birr where we presently provide services to a number of people from the said locality’s hence affording them the opportunity of remaining in their own community.
Achievements are many for the Service Users in St. Cronan’s, many of whom have achieved certification in N.C.V.A, QQI and I.A.S. Other Service Users have excelled in completing the “Primary Food Hygiene” and “Being Well” course’s both certified by the HSE.
Apart from the academic side we also had a number of very significant events over the years the biggest being The Celebration of our 25th Anniversary in 2002 and The World Special Olympics Host Town Programme in 2003. More recently in 2004 one female Service User went to Luxemburg to take part in The European Special Olympics. She was one of the participants in the first ever Ladies Soccer Team.
In the same year a male Service User came second in the overall First Irish Coarse Angling Fishing Competition for persons with disabilities.
You will appreciate that this is just a small sample of the types of community integration experienced by people with disabilities that does have a significant impact on their lives.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank our many supporters in our local community.
