Probation Service ‘never directly funded’ Red Door services in Drogheda

By Olivia Ryan, The Drogheda Independent

The Probation Service has responded to concerns raised by the Red Door project in Drogheda on the funding of support and intervention services in Louth.

The Red Door project had highlighted in last week’s Drogheda Independent their disappointment at being unsuccessful in a funding application for Drugs Court support services they have been carrying out for a number of years in the Drogheda area.

But, in a statement issued in the last few days the Probation Service said it had “never directly funded any services provided by the Red Door.”

The statement outlined that in the fourth quarter of this year (2025), the Probation Service ran an Expression of Interest (EOI) campaign, to provide support and interventions to Probation Service clients assigned by the County Louth Probation Service team and to expand its services in the area.

“The Red Door project applied for funding for services under the EOI but was not successful. The applications submitted under the EOI were evaluated by the Probation Service in line with the criteria included in the EOI. Ana Liffey project was chosen as part of this process, due its extensive experience in this field of work.”

“It is the intention that the Ana Liffey project, which has previous experience working directly in the region, will have a number of staff based on-site in County Louth delivering services locally.”

“The Red Door’s assertion that it was in receipt of Probation Service funding, which was then withdrawn, is inaccurate in this context.”

The statement concluded: “The Probation Service has not been involved in any arrangement pertaining to any such funding and is not the decision maker on any pre-existing funding that supports the delivery of the services which the Red Door has been providing in the region.”

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