*Photograph: John Mangan
REFUGEES leaving war-torn countries have are being moved “without any consideration,” Clare councillors have said while once again slamming the lack of consultation from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman (GP) was called upon to “to clearly outline the future plan for supporting people coming to Ireland seeking asylum, refuge and protection along with local host communities where refuge is provided” by Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF), Cllr Joe Garrihy (FG), Cllr Ian Lynch (IND) and Cllr Tony Mulcahy (FG).
In a joint motion before the July sitting of Clare County Council, the quartet added, “We seek a plan and implementation strategy which is fair, equitable and sustainable. We seek a plan which aligns with local population versus expected numbers being hosted along with assessment of resource capacity and provision and impact on the sustainable development of the community overall. We seek a plan and implementation approach which has decision making informed by engagement with local communities and local authority support agencies”.
Tabled following recent events in Shannon and Kilbaha where refugees who had settled into their communities were given notice that they were to be relocated, the motion saw councillors express their frustration with how events have been handled.
According to Cllr McGettigan, “chaos and heartache” has been witnessed in Shannon following no consultation with the local community. “There was people with jobs, people going to school, people with cancer getting treatment in UHL and all moved to an area that didn’t know they were coming. Children were crying, they had to put their whole lives in a plastic bag. In Lisdoonvarna, they didn’t know they were coming which created two types of anger, the anger in Shannon and the anger in Lisdoonvarna”.
Lisdoonvarna based Cllr Garrihy said he was tired of having to raise the matter. “Number one we are dealing with people in vast majority of cases have come from horrific environments, they can see on smart phones what is happening to their communities and families, they are being moved around without any consideration to where the children are in school or working, in North Clare we have one of the highest percentage of refugees in the country, how can you have integration with that model”.
There is an onus on the Secretary General in Minister O’Gorman’s Department to step up, Cllr Mulcahy maintained. “We’ve this habit of blaming the Minister and the Government but there is a Secretary General in this Dept who has been funded colossally over the last two years but the way they have been doing things that good luck you’re off in two weeks, there must be a better way of planning”. He continued, “They have changed minister but the people around them stay, they don’t put their name to it”. The Shannon man said the actions over recent weeks were “appalling” and suggested citizenship will have to be given to prevent future occurrences.
“What is happening with these people is cruel and callous,” commented Cllr Mary Howard (FG). “These kids came here traumatised, they came into the schools and got settled in, they made relationships and the whole thing has uprooted and the bottom line is because of greed and someone has made a better deal”.
Additional supports were received in Kilbaha for taking in Ukrainians, Cllr Rita McInerney (FF) pointed out. She said they received a welcome with open arms and the community feel as they have been punished, “they feel like they have done everything the Government asked of them but then the rug is taken away from them in terms of being taken away so quickly. It is not right, it discourages communities from engaging in this into the future. We know it is part of cost-saving and consolidation is happening. These people have to be supported. I would question the cost saving”.
An underbelly of “we can’t even mind our own” was evident in a rare capacity during the election campaign, Cllr Antoinette Baker Bashua (FF) said. “My husband was a refugee, he came over looking for asylum and he thankfully met me. On both sides, what people want is consultation, it brings about anti-social negativity, the people living here are really scared for their communities, you have people living here for twenty years. What we need going forward is a plan so social media doesn’t get the opportunity to scaremonger,” she added.
Plans to terminate the contract at Treacy’s Oakwood Hotel in Shannon were referenced by Cllr Bill Slattery (FG) who asked “are they going to Lisdoonvarna too”. He said there is an approximate 1,400 refugees in Lisdoonvarna presently. “There’s a silent majority in Lisdoonvarna who are up in arms about how their town has been turned inside out, they are not racist”. He continued, “They have been classed as racist but they are not, there’s too many people coming into Lisdoonvarna, it has to stop”. The Lahinch man said there is a frustration that the town has been “turned into a Ukrainian hub”.
Chief Executive of the Council, Pat Dowling acknowledged it was an emotive issue. “Let’s get back to the kernel, that is around the manner in which people are displaced from one location and moved to another. It is not just the challenge but how people have been treated, mostly accommodated through commercial locations, some of these contracts are terminating, the Department are making decisions around that. This is an issue we are taking up nationally”.
Dowling said they have argued there is a need for the Department of Housing to have a greater role in this sphere. “It can’t be solved in this Chamber, it can only be solved if there is a whole of Government approach on how we deal with this, the plan has to be a national Government plan first”.
