Meeting addresses emergency access to Turf Lodge following tragic death of local mum

A multi-agency meeting has been held to address emergency access concerns in Turf Lodge after the tragic death of a local woman last year.

Last August Philomena Donnelly (51) suffered cardiac arrest at her Monagh Crescent home with husband Damien frantically performing CPR as he waited for the ambulance to arrive. Despite his desperate attempts to save her life Philomena sadly passed away later in hospital.

After speaking to paramedics, Damien learnt that the ambulance had difficulties accessing the street due to parked cars and other obstructions which may have been a contributing factor in Philomena's passing. Turf Lodge residents have been complaining for years that the estate was never designed with the car in mind.

This week, a multi-agency meeting was attended by NI Ambulance Service, PSNI, Housing Executive, Department for Infrastructure and local political representatives.

Speaking after the meeting, Aisling Reilly MLA said: “Firstly my thoughts go out to the Donnelly family on the loss of Philomena.

"This was an incredibly important conversation to have. What happened last year was a tragedy that deeply affected the local community, and it’s vital that lessons are learned. Everyone here today shares the same goal, to make sure emergency services can access homes quickly and safely in future.

“We’re grateful to all the agencies for coming together and working collaboratively on this. The community has been clear that something needs to change, and we’ll keep pushing until it does.”

Councillor Micheál Donnelly added: “We’ve been engaging with residents for some time on this issue. The street design, parking layout, and general road width make access extremely difficult for large emergency vehicles.

"This meeting was about finding practical steps forward that protect residents’ safety and support emergency response teams.”

A number of potential solutions are now being explored, including long term and short term ways forward. Agencies have agreed to continue liaising with the community and report back on next steps.