Contrasting fortunes for local community campaigns
There were contrasting fortunes for two local communities last week with regard to refugee accommodation.
The campaign against the opening of an International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) centre at the former St Kieran's Nursing Home in Rathcabbin appears to have proven successful. Members of the local community were informed on Friday that the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) would not be proceeding with the opening of an IPAS centre at the site.
But in Borrisokane, residents of the Riverside apartment complex, where a direct provision centre opened in 2019, were last week informed by letter that they are to be “moved on” by September 5.
The Borrisokane Liaison Committee has been campaigning for the 20 families to be allowed remain in situ, despite the DCEDIY stating that their accommodation is needed by IPAS. “Only a few weeks back our hopes and spirits were indeed high as the residents were issued letters of a pause on their evictions, only days before the date for them to leave,” the committee said in a statement this week. “The week before, the children, who were happily preparing to go back to their schools to start a new year with their teachers and friends. Parents having purchased new books and uniforms. “The department and government have refused to meet with us to listen to what we have to say, to get our heads together for a solution instead of them constantly making problems. Ticking boxes is not a long-term solution, nor is shuffling humans around from one place to another like a deck of cards.”
The committee said the only alternative accommodation for the Borrisokane residents - most of whom have been living in the town for five years having been granted leave to remain in Ireland - is an emergency IPAS centre in Birr. “As we know, this is temporary accommodation so this will then entail these families to be moved on again. It is beyond any comprehension why this is happening.”
MAKING MILLIONS FROM MISERY
“Is it because our so-called leaders are afraid of the private companies that are making millions out of the misery of others?” the committee asked.
It referenced an agreement made in 2019 between the Dept of Justice, property company and local stakeholders. The agreement gave the families a stable, long-term home to become active residents of the community, to join in the sporting groups and schools in the area.
It was agreed that the Riverside residents could remain there if they so wished under the HAP scheme, if they qualified, or through private rent.
“This then would prevent extra pressure on local authorities when it came to housing,” the committee stated. “But between IPAS and the private property group, this simply isn’t enough. They make short-term decisions and cannot see the long-term negative emotional and mental impact it makes on the children, women and men themselves.
“The adults that are working full-time and teenagers that work part-time that don’t drive will also have to leave their jobs.”
The committee said it is still seeking a meeting with DCEDIY Minister Roderic O’Gorman.
“Maybe for once he would actually listen to what is being said from a community that has done the right thing from the start. The same rhetoric is given every time places are needed for other IPAS applicants, but they are moving these families from their homes of five years to another IPAS accommodation, so where is the logic in that? These families have tried over the years to get alternative accommodation in the area but it is non- existent.”
RELIEF IN RATHCABBIN
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Rathcabbin Concerned Residents William Rigney spoke of local relief over confirmation that the DCEDIY is not proceeding with the opening of an IPAS centre at St Kieran’s. A number of people told him that last Friday was the first good night of sleep they had since news emerged earlier this year of the former nursing home being used to accommodate potentially more than 50 international protection applicants.
Mr Rigney said he was informed by local TDs that an application to use St Kieran’s as an IPAS centre was refused due to its location and lack of facilities in the area. There is no means of appealing this decision.
Welcoming this “great news” for Rathcabbin, Mr Rigney spoke of the “upheaval” caused in his community by word of the IPAS proposal. He criticised the “iron-fisted approach” of the DCEDIY with regard to “pushing people down on an environ. It’s not fair to those people coming in either. I know we have an obligation to take them in but if there’s no room at the inn, there’s no room at the inn.
“They should make sure they have proper facilities before they take them, and make sure they’re properly documented as well... We are sympathetic to the plight of these people, so long as there is due diligence, so long as they are properly documented and so long as the facilities are there for them so they can be happy. If they’re not happy, there’s going to be problems.”
Mr Rigney called for greater transparency in how the DCEDIY deals with IPA accommodation. He took the opportunity to thank all of the TDs and councillors who worked on the case, as well as the local media and particularly the people of the community for staying engaged on the matter. Mr Rigney mentioned that even local people based in America came back to take part in the recent protest walk organised by his committee, such was the strength of feeling over the issue.
FUTURE OF ST KIERAN’S
As to what happens now with the nursing home - which closed in 2022 - Mr Rigney stressed that there is “no ill will” towards the owner. “The community’s wish is to have it back as a care home and if there is government funding to be got, then get that funding to support it because it’s there, it’s fit for purpose and there is planning on it for further development,” he said. “It would be nice to see it as a care home and it is very befitting of that use.”
Making a statement on the situation, Deputy Michael Lowry said that further to his representations on behalf of the local community, he was advised by Minister O’Gorman and the DCEDIY that they no longer intend to proceed with the use of St Kieran’s as a refugee centre.
Deputy Lowry said he has remained in regular contact with the department on this matter, highlighting local concerns and seeking full clarity for local people on the proposed use of the former nursing home.
“The assessment process has been completed and St Kieran’s has been deemed unsuitable for such use,” Deputy Lowry stated.
“I have repeatedly said that this location was not suitable for the numbers likely to be housed there as the local amenities are not capable of sustaining them.”
Commenting on the situation in Borrisokane, Deputy Alan Kelly labelled the decision to give deadlines to the Riverside centre residents a “disgrace”.
“This is the very opposite of integration, which is what this department is supposed to be about,” he said. “These residents now have status and the company that owns these apartments should be contracted to take HAP once such residents get such status.
“This should be part of any IPA contracts around the country. Companies should have to take HAP where applicable for a three-five year period after providing an IPA service,” Deputy Kelly said.
“This recent decision goes completely against the agreement with the local people that was made in 2019 that the new residents would be allowed to stay in the town of Borrisokane. What is even more frustrating is that the Government are totally contradicting themselves in moving the residents from one IPA centre just up the road to another IPA centre in Birr. What is the actual point of this? It makes no sense.
“This Government and their supporters need to explain why they are treating these residents and the community of Borrisokane with such contempt and disrespect, and why they actually don’t practice what they preach; namely that integration should mean integration,” Deputy Kelly concluded.