BELFAST City Council has backed calls to save the city's only homeless women's hostel from closure.
Regina Coeli House in Lake Glen is set to close its doors after a survey found it needed repairs costing over £500,000.
The building is owned by the Legion of Mary with services provided by an independent group of trustees operating under the banner of the Regina Coeli House Hostel.
Unite the Union members at the hostel have been involved in 24/7 work-in at the hostel in a bid to save it from closure, and have been suspended from their jobs as a result.
A special meeting of Belfast City Council was held on Monday night to discuss a motion calling on the Communities Minister and Housing Executive to meet with the owners and management of the facility.
The motion was brought by SDLP Councillor Paul McCusker and People Before Profit Councillor Fiona Ferguson. It was passed with an amendment from Sinn Féin which further called on the Legion of Mary and the Down and Connor Diocese to take action.
Council first heard deputations from two Regina Coeli Hostel workers and Unite the Union rep, Susan Fitzgerald.
Emma McCann, who works at the hostel, said: "The hostel provides a calm and safe environment for the women we support and this is vital as they recover from the traumas they have experienced before coming to Regina Coeli. Trauma such as domestic abuse, addiction, mental health and complex needs.
"At a time when we are seeing a sharp rise in domestic abuse and femicide, where the majority of victims will know their abusers, we should be looking to increase the number of women's hostels and invest in the services they provide – not shut them down."
After 1000s sign petition, Unite welcomes Belfast councillors' vote to seek meeting to discuss solutions to the future of Regina Coeli House.
— Unite the union: join a union (@unitetheunion) January 17, 2022
"It is shocking that this facility faces closure, leaving women in crisis with no place to go." @UniteSharon https://t.co/KeKEESBA1J
Unite's Susan Fitzgerald praised the “phenomenal” efforts of the workers, and called on the Housing Executive and Communities Minister, Deirdre Hargey, to intervene.
She said Unite "understands" that the Legion of Mary own the building, and said it should hand the building over to the Housing Executive if it can no longer run the facility.
“The Communities Minister, her department, and the NIHE have to be brave and they have to find far-reaching solutions here,” she stated.
Cllr McCusker said workers at the hostel "often go above and beyond" to support the hostel users, and highlighted the increasing number of women sleeping on Belfast's streets.
"Every night in Belfast we have people who sleep rough," the SDLP rep said..
"A lot of those are females who sleep on the streets. We can't sit by and let people who are homeless not access the support they need."
Fair play to the staff at Regina Coeli for their commitment on calling for this important facility to remain open. The right thing to do now for the Legion of Mary who are meeting tonight is to engage with @CommunitiesNI @DeirdreHargey to agree on keeping this important service! pic.twitter.com/yScyzljuW4
— Paul Mc Cusker (@Paul_Mc_Cusker) January 14, 2022
People Before Profit Councillor Fiona Ferguson said the closure of the facility "will hurt women in need" as well as the workers "who are trained and work incredibly hard to support them".
"There is a duty of care on the Minister for Communities and the Housing Executive to step in and to save this service from closure," she added.
Sinn Féin Councillor Ronan McLaughlin put forward an amendment to include reference to the Legion of Mary, calling for pressure "where the pressure is needed".
"The problem is that they are knocking at a door that no one is answering,” he said.
“They’re ignoring their staff, they’re ignoring their union representatives, and they’re ignoring political representatives.”
Green Party Councillor Áine Groogan put forward a separate motion instead calling for women who use the facility to be rehoused and for the adoption of a "Housing First" model.
Disappointed at the Legion of Mary’s decision to close Regina Coeli despite offers from my dept to explore options to secure this facility
— Deirdre Hargey (@DeirdreHargey) January 14, 2022
My priority is the safety of women who need this service
I’m working urgently with Housing Executive to secure this much needed provision.
Sinn Féin's Ciarán Beattie spoke in favour of the first amendment, stating: "The people who are choosing to close this facility is the Legion of Mary, sitting under the Diocese of Down and Connor.”
People Before Profit's Matt Collins spoke to the need to “put pressure on the Catholic Church”, but took issue with the amendment for excluding reference to Sinn Féin's Communities Minister, Deirdre Hargey.
He called on Council to back Unite's call for the hostel to be taken into public control, adding: "To do that we have to have these conversations with the Minister."
The Sinn Féin amendment, which was altered to include reference to the Minister, was later passed.
An amendment from the Green Party was rejected.
Cllr McCusker said that while it had raised some “amazing points” around longer term provision for homelessness, it did not "deal with the urgency" of the Regina Coeli closure.
Belfast Council will call a meeting with Minister for Communities, Housing Exec, and Legion of Mary about the future of the Regina Coeli Hostel.
— Cllr Fiona Ferguson (@fiona_ferg) January 17, 2022
Thanks to @UniteunionNI hostel staff who spoke powerfully tonight
As we're reminded of the dangers women face, this is so important! pic.twitter.com/UMMD6zKODC