A heartbreaking series of events led Claire O’Reilly to start her new business ,a retreat centre providing respite for families of those suffering from addiction.
Serenity Retreats, based on the Maharees peninsula in Castlegregory, Co Kerry, is due to open next month with four-day retreats to be run every week.
O’Reilly started the business as she watched helplessly while a relative spiralled downward through addiction, learning in the process that support services to care for the carers were thin on the ground.
‘‘We had a close family member who had struggled on and off for the last 15 years with periods of active addiction and periods of sobriety," said O’Reilly. ‘‘We realised that, as a family, there weren’t many places for support for us. When he was in a treatment centre, there was a family programme, which was brilliant, but when he was out of treatment, there was nothing."
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