Tractor blockade of Clare hotel housing asylum seekers 'not necessary' says Taoiseach
The Magowna Seekers Carson/pa House Wire Of Hotel Co Asylum In Inch, Picture: Grounds Clare Leaving The Niall
The blockade of a hotel intended to house asylum seekers in Clare is "not necessary" according to the Taoiseach after a group of 34 asylum seekers were moved in three holiday homes at a hotel site in Inch on Monday night.
The move into the Magowna House Hotel site sparked up concerns among locals who say they were never told about the arrivals. The hotel complex, located in an isolated rural area, has a capacity for up to 69 asylum seekers.
Speaking in Iceland where he is attending a Council of Europe meeting, Leo Varadkar said that the use of tractors to block the roads around the hotel where 34 asylum seekers had been staying and said that he echoed the comments of Tánaiste Micheál Martin earlier on Tuesday.
Mr Varadkar said that Integration Minister Roderic O'Gorman and his department would engage with the local community tomorrow, but said that the situation meant that sometimes "whatever accommodation is available" will be used.
"I don't think the blockade is necessary. What we do need to do is engage with the community. I know Minister O'Gorman is going to meet with representatives tomorrow to do exactly that.
"But you know, we are facing an unprecedented situation. Nearly 100,000 people from other parts of the world mainly Ukraine have come to Ireland seeking refuge and seeking shelter. We have to provide for them whatever accommodation is available and it isn't always going to be perfect. But it is the best we can do."
Mr Varadkar said that it was not possible to say when asylum seekers would no longer be forced to sleep on the streets because of a lack of state accommodation. He said that it is "never possible to set a deadline of that nature because we can't predict the number of people who will arrive in Ireland from Ukraine or from other parts of the world".
He said that there has been a "significant" slowdown in the numbers coming in but that the Government "can't say for sure" if there could be another increase for some reason.
"So that's very difficult to predict," he said.
The local community in Inch, Co Clare, is not in danger from the arrival of male asylum seekers to the area, the chief executive of Clare County Council has said.
Clare County Council chief executive Pat Dowling told a meeting with residents yesterday that the community is not at risk.
Around 40 locals joined a hastily organised meeting with council officials, councillors, and local TDs Cathal Crowe and Michael McNamara.
Concerns were expressed by one woman for teenage girls who engage in sports training in the area.
"You [could] have 69 men standing there. They are young men. We have young girls that would run up and down the road.
“This might sound like an obsessive fear but do you think anyone would be comfortable who has a 15- or 16-year-old daughter who would use that road to train for her team?"
Her words were applauded by local people at the meeting.
She added: "We are being dictated to, we are being told ‘shut up and put up’. We are going to be portrayed as being the most awful bunch of lunatics for even questioning what is going on."
Another woman told the meeting: “We are very far from racist. We are a very welcoming community. It is extremely upsetting what is happening. I should be at work today. It is not fair on them and it is not fair on us."
Another resident told the meeting:
Clare TD Cathal Crowe told the meeting that “the ugly Dublin protests" mean the Department of Integration is not communicating with local communities ahead of the arrival of asylum seekers.
He said the general approach by “some civil service guru” is the best thing to do is to give no information to the community, and give last-minute information to the public representatives, and by "playing the game that way, ‘we will line up the accommodation and pass over the keys and fill the beds’.”
Mr Dowling told the local residents that the council had no prior knowledge of the arrival of asylum seekers on Monday evening.
He told the locals that the council will work with the agencies “to ensure that these men are not left loitering in that facility for weeks and months without services being provided”.
Senior council official, Jason Murphy, told the meeting that prior to coming to Clare, "there is a chance that these people were living in a tent on the street and the first thing they want is a bed and some food and shelter”.
“I am suspecting these people are trying to get some sleep, get some food into them and wake up in the morning and smell the fresh air of Co Clare," he said.