Department ‘just waiting for me to die’: Letterfrack abuse survivor left with unfinished bathroom and bedroom

Martin Woodland, a survivor of childhood institutional abuse, has been left for four years with no bathroom or bedroom he can access.
The Limerick man, who spent five years in Letterfrack industrial school from the age of 11, was approved for an accessible extension with an en-suite bedroom in 2020 by the independent support organisation for institutional abuse survivors, Caranua. Three months into the job, however, defects were found in the build and works stopped.
Mr Woodland (70) – who has chronic lung disease, cardiac failure, diabetes, angina and mobility issues – has been left with a “shell of an extension” that a building inspector says may need demolition.
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Unable to get upstairs in his Ballinacurra Weston home, Mr Woodland sleeps in an armchair, urinates in a plastic bottle and washes himself “best I can” at the kitchen sink. His night terrors about Letterfrack have worsened amid ongoing stress, he adds. “The things I saw are like a constant video in my head,” he says, becoming upset.
The walls of the incomplete extension are of bare, unevenly lain, concrete blocks which crumble when touched. An open manhole is covered with a piece of wood, roof insulation is exposed and damp marks are visible around windows. The extension floor is lower than in the main house – a trip-hazard.
Not only is the construction unusable, but Mr Woodland had to get rid of his dog Jack and an aviary, where he kept up to 30 “beautiful” breeding songbirds, to make way for it. “The birds used to wake me, singing, in the morning. I loved that. I put a lot into that – special food, bird baths. I had that beauty, and I have nothing now.”
The saga began a decade ago when Mr Woodland applied to Caranua for an accessible bathroom and downstairs bedroom. Caranua had been established in 2013 to manage a €110-million fund pledged by religious orders in whose institutions thousands of children suffered abuse. The fund provided items and services to improve survivors’ lives.
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An occupational therapist, engaged by Caranua, recommended he have a “level access shower … in an en-suite downstairs” in an extension. Caranua paid for an architect to draw up plans. When initial plans were deemed too ambitious and expensive by Caranua, revised plans were finally approved in 2020.
Caranua obtained two builders’ quotes and Mr Woodland obtained one. The cheapest, from a Limerick builder, for €60,098, was approved. Caranua engaged with the builder and paid funds directly into his account. No contract, however, was drawn up between the builder and either Caranua or Mr Woodland.
Work began in January 2021. “I could see things were wrong immediately,” says Mr Woodland. “I asked him about a few things and he turned around to me and said: ‘Martin I am not running an apprenticeship here. I don’t have to explain to you’. Caranua were paying him so he didn’t feel he had to answer.”
After raising his concerns with Caranua, an inspector visited on five occasions in March 2021. His reports listed 10 “areas of concern” including about the hard core used in the substructure and the integrity of the damp course. When work stopped the following month, the builder had been paid €36,000. He has not returned.
By the time the build began, however, Caranua was winding down, having dispersed most of the €110 million. Mr Woodland’s case was among a small number referred back from Caranua to the Department of Education when it ceased operating in March 2021.
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In May 2021, the department’s Residential Institutions Redress Unit (RIRU) contacted Mr Woodland by email, telling him it had an “understanding” of his “unfortunate situation” and “the issues which need to be addressed”.
“I understood they were going to put it all right,” he says.
Voluminous records obtained by Mr Woodland reveal contacts between RIRU officials and third parties throughout 2021 and 2022. They discuss sourcing architects and obtaining quotes and engaging “with [Mr Woodland] in relation to the funding”.
In one, dated February 18th, 2022, an architect is invited to quote. “The department is seeking to appoint an architect-led team to assess the works carried out to date and to develop a plan for the completion of the extension,” the RIRU says. An engineer’s report to the department, dated May 23rd, 2022, advises the extension “may need to come down and start again”.
An architect’s report to the department, dated October 19th, 2023, describes “very poor quality of workmanship”. It estimates essential remedial works would cost €75,512.
The following year, however, the RIRU’s approach appears to change.
In an email dated December 13th, 2023, Brian Power, unit principal officer, says: “While the department has agreed to assist in getting the issue resolved, no commitment to funding from the department has ever been made.”
Answering a parliamentary question on the case in January, Minister for Education Norma Foley said: “My department is not in a position to reopen applications or undertake functions on behalf of Caranua.”
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Caranua, though closed, remains a legal entity until dissolved by legislation currently before the Oireachtas. A Caranua spokesman told The Irish Times: “Where a supplier has been contracted by an individual to supply services, any disputes arising are a matter for the parties purchasing and supplying the services.”
Records show, however, there was no contract between Mr Woodland and the builder.
Solicitor Fionna Fox, who advocates for Mr Woodland pro bono, argues under the 2012 Act Caranua was duty-bound to ensure the work on Mr Woodland’s home was to an acceptable standard. The Act, says Caranua, “shall … evaluate the effectiveness of approved services in meeting the needs of former residents”.
Ms Fox says: “Arguably Caranua failed to meet its statutory obligations to deliver to Martin the finished extension. The department has a continuing duty of care to Martin. It seems determined instead to turn its back on him.”
A department spokesman said: “There is no basis to reopen applications or undertake functions on behalf of Caranua as the organisation has discharged its obligations and dealt with all issues under its remit.
“However, the department is aware of the particularly difficult circumstances of the person referenced and has undertaken to assist in identifying a path forward.”
The builder said he had “no arguments” with Mr Woodland and declined to comment further.
Mr Woodland believes the department “is just waiting for me to die. None of this is my doing. They have left me worse than I was before this started. I am totally depressed, totally lost.”
Sage Advocacy, which supports vulnerable adults including institutional abuse survivors, says legacy issues experienced by some following the closure of Caranua “need to be addressed before Caranua is formally dissolved”.
A spokesman said: “The acknowledged trauma of survivors of institutional abuse is enduring and should be reflected in a trauma-informed approach underpinning all interactions with survivors.”