*The Central B&B. Photograph: Paraic McMahon
PROTESTS have been held in Kilrush over plans to house 27 asylum seekers at The Central B&B on Henry St while the Minister for Integration has said no amount of information provided in advance will deter people from criminal action.
As first reported by The Clare Echo, an attempted arson attack was carried out on the premises in the early hours of Wednesday morning with Gardaí investigating reports of criminal damage. Since then, protests were held on Wednesday evening and Thursday evening as members of the local community formed under the banner ‘Kilrush Says No’ convened outside the B&B.
Clare TD, Violet-Anne Wynne (IND) was among those at the demonstration on Thursday where she held a poster reading ‘no to unvetted males in Kilrush’, she has publicly said she does not support its use as an IPAS centre. Michael Leahy (IFP), an unsuccessful candidate in the European Elections and the 2020 General Election also spoke at the protest.
On Monday evening, elected representatives met with members of the community in Kilrush to discuss their concerns. The Department of Integration’s Community Engagement Team is expected to met with some of these residents in the near future but no date has been fixed.
Speaking in Ennis on Wednesday, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman (GP) said no amount of prior notice will deter persons from carrying out criminal acts at locations where refugees or asylum seekers are due to be housed. “With respect no amount of information is going to deter someone who decides to take a criminal act. We’ve seen instances of arson around the country, we shouldn’t make excuses for that, that is a criminal act and I don’t believe any amount of information from me or my Department will deter someone who has made a decision to do something outside the law which is dangerous to their local community, dangerous for people living in the area and potentially dangerous for international protection applicants. We provide information about when we are opening centres, the numbers that will be using the centres, who will be running the centre, that information has been provided for Kilrush and other centres”.
He stated, “We know across Clare there has been huge support for Ukrainians and International Protection Applicants over the last two years, Clare shouldered a huge part of our response to Ukraine, I know because our numbers of Ukrainians are decreasing across the country and about 1900 fewer Ukrainians are living in accommodation in Clare now than there was this time year. In terms of information where we are opening new accommodation for international protection applicants, we provide information to elected representatives, to TDs, Senators, Councillors, we also engage with Clare County Council and provide them with information on new centres opening, we do have a community engagement team that provide that information and will respond to those questions. In Kilrush, it is 27 applicants being accommodated there, where issues come to our Department on pressures on services, we work with the relevant authorities”.
Minister O’Gorman acknowledged “There’s always situations where people want a longer period of time before people move into an area and we do provide information”.
Elected representatives are also among those to have criticised the lack of information circulated. “We provide the information when we have the information, we have to act swiftly, my Department continues to be under pressure to ensure families are not left unaccommodated so when we have accommodation to open we do act swiftly but we do provide the relevant information to TDs, Senators and County Councillors, it is appropriate that we deal with elected representatives in that channel”.
Among those are Deputy Wynne who claimed the Government “has refused to respond to multiple pleas for meetings”, when this was put to Minister O’Gorman he said he was not contacted by Deputy Wynne, “She hasn’t been onto me directly anyway, we’ve a community engagement team who do really god work, they’ve done hundreds of meetings around the country, they go and engage with local and community reps to get a sense of the key issues in an area whether it is pressure on a GP, school places or public transport”.
In a statement, the Clare TD commented, “To bring vulnerable people who have potentially suffered great trauma and dump them in Kilrush, would be hypocritical and unacceptable. They will need care, especially healthcare, and it is well known on the ground that the local services cannot support those already there. On the one hand Government tell us, Clare is capable of receiving a disproportionate share of those in need, but on the other hand they are adamant that a thorough HIQA review is required to determine whether or not our region, the only region in the Country that is functioning with one model 4 hospital and no model 3 ED, will get what it deserves”.
When it was put to Minister O’Gorman that communities like Kilbaha, Ennis and Shannon welcomed Ukrainians and embraced them with open arms yet were left devastated with their sudden notices to depart, he responded, “We very much recognise that Co Clare has provided a huge welcome to thousands of Ukrainians and international protection applicants. Right now Ireland is not seeing the same number of Ukrainians, a significant number are leaving State accommodation, some are returning to Ukraine and some moving elsewhere. The provision of State owned accommodation is a significant expense, if I’ve an area where I’ve three guesthouses and they are all half full, we have to take steps to make sure we’re consolidating our accommodation provision and ensuring that there is value for money for the State, it is also important to allow hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs return to tourism, when I was in Clare last the criticism was we were taking too much of the tourism accommodation, a lot was taken in Clare and I recognise that”.
