Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Hyde and Seek crèche on Dublin’s Tolka Road in the wake of revelations about standards of care there, calling for the facility to be taken over by the State.

The crèche had been open early but closed around lunchtime in advance of the protest.

Around 50 people – all members of the local community- stood outside, chanting: “Hey ho, hey ho, Hyde and Seek it’s got to go.”

Organiser Sorcha Finnegan said she grew up listening to her mother talking about the Magdalene Laundry around the corner and that is why they were determined to do something here.

“What was going on there was known about but the people didn’t stand up,” she said.

“When I watched that programme I said those children are not going to be attending psychiatrists over what happened on here.

Childcare worker Eimear Meleady from Glasnevin came along with her friend, a childcare worker who formerly worked at the Tolka Road crèche and who did not want to be identified.

Read more here: With many parents left deeply unsettled by the exposé of crèches in the Hyde and Seek chain, just how worried should they be?

Both said they wanted to do something to help after watching the programme.

“I watched it and I was disgusted,” said Eimear.

“It made me want to do something about it because Tusla is not doing enough.”

“Anne Davy was accountable for what was going on here but who is accountable for her,” she asked.

Her friend claimed she had witnessed verbal abuse and children being forced to go to sleep during her nine months working there.

Local woman Jackie Byrne said she was angered by what had happened on her doorstep, saying parents had left their children at the crèche for ‘love and care’ only for their trust to be abused.

“It’s a disgrace,” she said.

Read more here: ‘Our trust has been betrayed’ – concerned families call for an explanation following damning exposé

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