Subscriber OnlyInside Politics Newsletter

Anti-migrant protest continues as Minister announces new accommodation centres

Inside Politics: Accommodation capacity under pressure even as numbers arriving in Ireland fall

Asylum seekers leaving the grounds of the Magowna House hotel in Inch, Co Clare. Local residents have raised fire safety concerns about the venue and sewerage system. The asylum seekers who have already arrived are being housed in ancillary facilities on the grounds but not in the hotel itself. Picture date: Tuesday May 16, 2023. PA Photo. See PA story IRISH Immigration. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Harry McGee's face
Harry McGee
Thu May 18 2023 - 10:35

Anybody who has walked along Mount Street will know that it has started to look less like a business district in the past week, and more like a refugee camp. There are about 10 tents on the pavement outside the office of the International Protection office there and about another 50 tents on the ramp and in the car park to the right of the building.

Meanwhile, in Inch in Co Clare, the blockade against a group of about 30 asylum seekers using a facility there has continued. The grounds of protest have been to do with its isolation, a fire safety certificate and a septic tank. But like other rural areas, there is – at the most profound level – opposition to a group of unknown men (and they are mostly men) being accommodated in their community.

There are deficits in communication and engagement and that is for sure. Even though the numbers of people coming to Ireland seeking international protection has fallen a little (down from 1,300 a month to about 800 months in March) there is simply not the capacity to accommodate them in Dublin or elsewhere. Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman has been scrambling to find accommodation, anywhere, in any habitable condition.

The protesters in Inch issued a statement last night saying the accommodation “is totally unsuitable for the purpose”.

READ MORE

It no less unsuitable for this purpose than a tent in the middle of the street in Dublin where you are vulnerable to attack from groups of people intent on pushing an unpalatable political agenda.

Mr O’Gorman last night announced three new centres around Dublin that can accommodate 350 of the 520 people who have no shelter at present. How long they will take to get ready is anybody’s guess at this moment. Meanwhile, more will continue to come in.

The blame should not be put on any individual, but the system – and the integrity of the system – needs to be right. The notion that once you have got into Ireland the time span between your application and the end of the process could be many many many years has to end. The system needs to be more efficient.

Here is our main report on the issue today.

Serious assault

The other chilling incident yesterday was what happened in Navan, Co Meath, where a 14-year old boy was bullied and subject to a very serious assault. He ended up in hospital with concussion, broken teeth and extensive bruising. He was set upon by a group of boys.

A video was circulated on social media, which became an issue in itself. It also allowed the viral dissemination of what looked like an attack actuated by hate.

The video itself became the conversation when it should really have been the shocking assault. As the Fine Gael Senator Barry Ward commented on RTÉ’s The Late Debate last night, it was something you might have expected to see in the 1980s, but not in 2023.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar left no one in any doubt of how serious the assault had been, when speaking in Iceland. The Taoiseach issued a plea for anyone who has information to co-operate with the Garda investigation.

“I really want to send my solidarity to the young person who was harmed and injured in this way. I really want to say to them that life does get better. It is very sad that people experience violence and bullying in school but life does get better, and not to give up.

“I also just really want to say how sad I am that in this day and age that we still see this kind of bullying and violence happening in our schools. You’d hope that as time moves on, particularly with young people being so progressive and so clued into the world around them, that this wouldn’t happen, but it still does and I really feel sorry for the young person and their family.”

The Louth and Meath Education and Training Board (LMETB) say that “significant disciplinary proceedings” have been initiated at school level.

Here is our report on the incident.

Best reads

Miriam Lords happens to connect Simon Harris and Liz Truss all in one column.

Freya McClements tells you what to look out for in the lacklustre local elections in Northern Ireland today.

Fianna Fáil looks like it is on a collision course with the Greens over rewetting plans. The Taoiseach issued a plea for anyone who has information to co-operate with the Garda investigation.

This shocked me when I was asked to report on it last night; the high numbers of deaths among homeless people.

Sarah Burns reports on a Seanad debate on the almost 1,000 men convicted for “homosexual acts” in the past.

Playbook

Dáil

09:00: Questions to Catherine Martin, Minister for Arts and Tourism.

10:30: Questions to Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien.

12:00: Leaders’ Questions.

13:04: Bills for Introduction: Ban Private Jet Aircraft from Irish Airspace Bill 2023 – First Stage.

13:49: Government Business: Statements on the Consultative Forum on International Security Policy.

18:07: Private Members’ Bill. Motion re Report entitled “Issues impacting Dog Welfare in Ireland”.

19:22: Dáil adjourns.

Seanad

9:30: Commencement Matters.

11:45: Civil Defence Bill 2023 – Second Stage.

13:15: Statements on Tourism.

14:15: Seanad adjourns.

Committees

09:30: Committee on Public Accounts looking at Governance in relation to the purchase of site by the University of Limerick.

09:30: Joint Committee on Disability Matters discusses disability inclusive social protection.