Sir, – Residents of Ballinamore, the self-styled “friendly town” in Co Leitrim, are engaging in a 24/7 vigil to protest their “grave concerns and complete opposition” to the re-housing of 130 asylum seekers, fleeing oppression in their native lands. The proposed site, a 24-unit complex above a supermarket in the town has been ominously renamed an “apartment compound’, with protesters citing an inability of the town’s infrastructure to cope with the demands placed by increased number of residents.
The county council originally awarded the planning application for these apartments in 2000, without any such “crisis meetings” or dire warnings that “the future of our town is at stake”. Since then, Ballinamore has benefited from significant infrastructural investment, including the construction of an excellent new secondary school.
If their stated motivation, which is essentially on town planning grounds is to be believed, could the protesters please explain their lack of opposition to this “compound” 19 years ago? – Yours, etc,
CIARAN MURRAY,
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Aughnasheelin,
Ballinamore
Co Leitrim.