{"id":497528,"date":"2026-06-13T08:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T08:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/497528\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T08:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T08:57:11","slug":"parents-stress-through-the-roof-as-meath-creche-closes-rooms-200-times-since-october-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/497528\/","title":{"rendered":"Parents\u2019 stress \u2018through the roof\u2019 as Meath creche closes rooms 200 times since October \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Parents at a creche in Meath say rooms in the facility have closed on about 200 occasions since last October.<\/p>\n

The creche in Enfield, operated by Tigers Childcare, has been forced to regularly close rooms \u2013 sometimes for a week at a time \u2013 due to staff shortages.<\/p>\n

Parents say the situation has caused immense stress on families, with some children regressing regarding socialisation and toilet training. <\/p>\n

One mother said she was forced to change jobs so she could work remotely, as she has to be at home so often to mind her daughter. <\/p>\n

As reported by The Irish Times earlier this month, Tigers has been forced to close rooms<\/a> at various creches multiple times in recent months due to staff shortages and delays with Garda vetting. <\/p>\n

The situation is particularly acute at the Enfield branch with parents saying, by the end of this month, there will have been 204 closures across 176 operational days since October.<\/p>\n

Parents have been refunded for the days in question.<\/p>\n

Some of the closures were half days, but parents said most relate to full-day closures. Parents have already been informed of more closures due to happen later this month.<\/p>\n

One mother said her daughter\u2019s room is regularly closed for a week at a time.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Parents taking \u2018fake sick days\u2019 as creches close at short noticeOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

This mother, who did not wish to be named, said she recently had to leave a job she \u201cloved\u201d as her company required staff to be in the office four days a week. She said there was no way she could do this as she could not, rely on the creche to be open, so she felt compelled to find another job.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the closures at creche, I had to leave the job that I didn\u2019t want to leave and go somewhere else where they\u2019re more flexible with the days that I have to be in the office.\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman said the situation is placing a huge strain on her and her family. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe stress I\u2019ve had to deal with in the last year has been through the roof. I just can\u2019t express it. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been hard to progress my career, it\u2019s been hard to feel like I do a good job at my workplace, and as a mother as well … I feel like a failure in both directions. It\u2019s just not sustainable, it\u2019s not manageable.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the situation is also taking a toll on her daughter, who has \u201cgone backwards\u201d. The young girl was \u201chappy to go in … until this whole madness started\u201d, now \u201cshe cries from the minute she wakes up … she keeps saying she doesn\u2019t want to go in, she doesn\u2019t know who\u2019s going to be in her room\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another mother, who has three children in the creche and after-school programme, said many parents have \u201cused up\u201d their annual leave or force majeure leave from work or had to rely on grandparents to take over childminding duties. <\/p>\n

The creche tends to alternate which rooms are closed, but as this woman\u2019s children attend different rooms, one or more of them have been at home consistently for the last six weeks. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m six weeks in a row on and off, and this week I have two of them at home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband and I have had to cover either taking leave or bringing in the grandparents [for] 65 days since October.\u201d<\/p>\n

This mother, who also wanted to remain anonymous, said there has been high turnover of staff at the creche since Tigers took it over in 2023. The centre was previously called Angel Faces, but the situation has become particularly acute in recent months.<\/p>\n

She said the lack of routine has meant some children are \u201cregressing with their toilet training … and it\u2019s knocking the kids\u2019 confidence\u201d.<\/p>\n

There is a lack of childcare options in the area, making it difficult for parents to find an alternative option, she said.<\/p>\n

Tiger Childcare runs more than 30 creches in Dublin, Meath, Kildare and other counties. The company was acquired by UK group Kids Planet Day Nurseries<\/a> last month in a reported multimillion euro deal.<\/p>\n

Chief executive Karen Clince confirmed the business had to close rooms in a number of creches in recent months, saying Enfield has been particularly badly affected.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike other childcare providers across the country, we have faced ongoing recruitment and retention challenges,\u201d said Clince.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnfield has experienced particular staffing challenges over a sustained period and, as a result, has been disproportionately impacted compared with many of our other services. We recognise the impact this has had on families and understand their frustration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clince said the company was actively recruiting new employees and had introduced increased pay scales.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt all times, our priority is maintaining appropriate staffing ratios, safeguarding standards and the quality of care provided to children. Where difficult operational decisions have had to be made, they are always taken as a last resort and with those priorities in mind,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Parents at a creche in Meath say rooms in the facility have closed on about 200 occasions since…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[198461,61,60,15949,43,1786,11760],"class_list":["post-497528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-children-s-rights-alliance","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-meath","tag-news","tag-parenting","tag-parents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}