Protest march in Borrisokane
A protest march is to take place in Borrisokane this Wednesday evening amid growing local anger over the eviction of former asylum-seekers.
It has been organised by the Borrisokane Liaison Committee, which says the government has refused to engage with its members over residents of the town's Riverside accommodation centre. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) reiterated last week that the centre is needed by IPAS for the accommodation of new international protection applicants. The present occupants, many of whom have been living there for the last five years, have been told to leave this week and have been offered emergency accommodation at Elm Grove House in Birr, which has previously housed Ukrainians.
“Why can IPAS not move the new asylum-seekers to Elm Grove House?” Borrisokane Liaison Committee asked in a statement. “Surely it makes common sense to leave the residents in Borrisokane.”
The committee issued its statement after a number of its members and Riverside residents attempted to meet an IPAS housing official at the Riverside office last week. They said they were refused a meeting and informed that the office staff felt “intimidated” by their presence. They said six gardaí then arrived in three vehicles in response to a presence that consisted of “two elected councillors, four liaison committee members and four female residents and one child”.
“Intimidation? What a joke,” the committee stated. It said its actions are borne of frustration because no government department or representative of the Riverside property owner will engage with them on the issue.
THE LITTLE TOWN WITH THE BIG HEART
The committee circulated a timeline of events beginning with the government plan to accommodate 16 asylum-seeking families in Borrisokane in 2019.
“Borrisokane, the little rural town in North Tipperary with the big heart” became a centre of national attention after the local committee formed to assist with what became widely regarded as a successful integration process. The committee also last week circulated a copy of an agreement made with the Department of Justice and Equality, stating that the residents would have “the right to remain living in Borrisokane if they so wished, residing in the Riverside apartments, paying rent with the help of social housing if necessary”.
In its statement last week, the Borrisokane Liaison Committee called for this agreement to be honoured and for engagement on the issue.
“Surely now after all the hard work and success of the process that it cannot be torn to shreds and the government reneging on our agreement we worked long and hard to get.
“In recent times the government announced sending out liaison officers to communities to work with them. What is the point when they cannot honour an agreement and fail to turn up to continue to work with Borrisokane, who have always worked with them?”
‘WHERE IS THE HUMANITY?’
“Where is the humanity in the way this town and its people are being treated?” the committee asked, mentioning that many of the Riverside residents have local jobs and their children are in local schools. “None of it makes any sense to uproot these families and place in another town for them all to start again. How is this right in any form?”
The committee regretted that “greed comes before morals and humanity within government”, stating that the property owner could no longer make “huge profits” from the existing residents now that they have received status to remain in Ireland, and this is why they are being evicted. This, it said, should not be facilitated.
“Enough is enough. What our government is actively allowing to happen can only be described as human trafficking. We have exhausted every avenue and are left with no choice.”
The protest march is to start this Wednesday at 6.45pm, meeting at St Peter & Paul’s Church and proceeding through the town to the Riverside accommodation centre.
‘EMERGENCY SITUATION’
Asked to comment on the matter, a spokesperson for the DCEDIY said the Riverside accommodation is needed for new IPAs because government is “responding to an emergency situation, and there is an urgent need to provide accommodation for families with children fleeing conflict situations around the world and applying for international protection here in Ireland”.
The spokesperson said the DCEDIY tries to find emergency accommodation as closeby as possible in cases where residents are asked to leave their existing accommodation. “In this instance, the residents at this site have been offered accommodation which is 20 minutes drive from Borrisokane.”
The spokesperson mentioned that IPAS has a specific transition team, which works in collaboration with Depaul Ireland, the Peter McVerry Trust, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and local authorities to support residents with status to exit IPAS accommodation and access other housing options.
“Those with status have the same housing entitlements as Irish citizens and are supported to register with a local authority and, if required, to avail of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) to secure alternative accommodation. In addition, those with status have the same social welfare entitlements as Irish citizens.”
The spokesperson reiterated a previously made point that when the Riverside accommodation centre opened in late 2019, 7,683 people were accommodated in IPAS accommodation. This number has now risen to over 31,000 people, and over 2,000 single men are awaiting an offer of IPAS accommodation in Ireland.
“These residents, like anyone who has been granted leave to remain in Ireland following an application for international protection, are no longer entitled to IPAS-provided accommodation,” the spokesperson said of the Riverside occupants.
“However, IPAS continues to accommodate those with status, until such time that they progress into the community, including these residents who have been offered a transfer to emergency accommodation.
“The residents who have been offered this transfer [had] a form of status of at least two years in July 2024. Each family was notified in writing of this in February and March 2024. They were met in the centre in June 2023 and again in March 2024 and advised that a transfer to emergency accommodation was under consideration.”
‘WHAT'S THE POINT?’
Local TD Alan Kelly said he was in Borrisokane last week when IPAS officials “refused” to meet the Riverside residents and members of the liaison committee.
“The fact that gardaí were on the scene towards the end of the visit was a ridiculous waste of their time,” Deputy Kelly said in a statement afterward.
“The fact that these families, who have status to stay in Ireland, are now being evicted on this Thursday is a scandal. That cannot be allowed happen. They have fully integrated into Borrisokane and the agreement that they could stay on HAP, which was agreed with the liaison committee in 2019, should be honoured.
“It is also ridiculous that the government are proposing to move the residents from Borrisokane to another centre in Birr. What’s the point?” Deputy Kelly asked.
“I will be fully supporting the Borrisokane Liasion Committee in their fight to help these residents, who are their neighbours and friends. They should be allowed stay in the apartments using HAP and the minister and his government should be able to negotiate this with the accommodation providers. Furthermore, there should be a clause with all future accommodation providers that HAP is accepted for a minimum of three years after IPAs get status to stay and the contract has concluded. I’ve made this point to Minister O’Gorman and many of his officials over the last number of months but they are not listening.
"The Borrisokane Liaison Committee will continue with their protest this Wednesday and I will support them.
"A solution can be found to this situation, which is unique in Ireland where locals are fighting to help IPAs remain in their town. If Minister O’Gorman and his government fully believe in the word ‘integration’, they will work with all concerned parties to find that solution," Deputy Kelly concluded.