1 entry for Fr Fergal

Others such as Fr Fergal O’Connor who operated a hostel for homeless girls in the North Inner City of Dublin were reported as arguing ‘if Loughan House was considered part of an overall system for children in trouble, and if boys were only sent there for a short time and on the advice of people who worked with them, it would be a useful institution’.278 However, the majority of child welfare organisations issued a statement outlining their opposition to the proposal to open Loughan House and for the Government ‘to review their plans and adopt a more enlightened approach to the treatment of young offenders’.279 Loughan House opened in October 1978 and the first pupil admitted on 27th October 1978, a 14-year-old from Dublin,280 and closed in March 1983 when Trinity House opened.281