Leas Cross: There was a constant stream of visitors to the Leas Cross nursing home and retirement complex in north Co Dublin yesterday morning.
A number of visitors told reporters they would remove their relatives from the home, while others said they were "distressed" and "shocked" by the revelations on RTÉ's Prime Time Investigates.
However, a small number were critical of the media coverage, describing it as "one-sided".
Olive Farrington from Ratoath, Co Meath, said the first she knew of the controversy was when she saw her mother's face, digitally blurred, on Monday night's programme. Her mother, in her 80s, was being lifted from her chair, apparently against her will.
"I'm just in shock and I just have to get in to see how she's doing," she said. "I want to find out what's going on and my sisters are trying to sort some other accommodation."
She was shocked at the treatment of some residents shown in the programme. "The shock of seeing someone treated like that. She's a private patient. We are paying over the odds to get her good care and then to watch a programme on television and see how the patients are being treated . . ." her voice trailed off.
Mary, who did not want her full name published, said she was going in to the home "to rise murder". She was "shocked and very upset" and planned on moving her mother. She blamed the Government for problems with nursing home standards.
"Bertie Ahern ought to be bloody shot," she said. "My mother worked all her life and I'm sure most of them did in there."
She was told this was one of the best nursing homes in the country so if there were problems there, there must be problems everywhere.
"We're taking her out," she said. "We're going to try to get her somewhere else but they are probably all the same."
John and Susan McAllister live nearby in Swords and are regular visitors to see Susan's mother, who has Alzheimer's disease.
"We are very, very happy with the care here," John McAllister said. "We've seen levels of professionality that are really, really good. I have to say we are extremely happy."
Susan McAllister said some of the staff were extremely upset by the negative publicity. "They have given 100 per cent and now they are being badly spoken of. I don't think they [the programme makers] should have zoomed in on one particular home."
Terry Rowan and his wife Marie called to see his sister. They had been in the previous day but returned after seeing the programme. "It's so important that we, the relatives, visit these homes frequently, quiz the patients, look around and regularly ask questions," Terry Rowan said.
"Because if you never go near them, they will be forgotten about," Marie added.
They had not mentioned the controversy to his sister but they said the residents had not seen the programme. "No, everything was switched off, the radio wasn't even on," Mrs Rowan said.
Noreen Foran from Baldoyle said she was "totally shocked" by the programme, which had been video-taped by the family. Her father was "very happy" in the home and the nurses were very good to him, she said. "We didn't have any problem as such. But I would be concerned."
