A GROUP THAT has been protesting the housing of refugees in Co Clare, has said it is “disappointed and let down” by Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman’s response to their objections.

Minister O’Gorman said earlier today that Magowna House hotel in Inch “has to be used” to house asylum seekers due to a lack of alternative accommodation.

Some people living in the area blocked both ends of the hotel road with tractors and hay bales.

More than 30 asylum seekers moved in on Monday evening, but several have already left following the blockade.

In a statement this evening, a representative of the local group said: “Having read the Ministers reply to our elected representatives today, we feel disappointed and let down by his response.

“Our position as a community is that this location is totally unsuitable for this purpose.

“We invite Minister O’Gorman to come down in person and to view the location and accommodation.

“Our peaceful protests will continue.”

‘Horror’

Migrant support have reacted in “horror” after the same protesters reportedly boarded a bus carrying asylum seekers to conduct a headcount and record the men on video.

The Movement for Asylum Seekers in Ireland (Masi) said that the “government is allowing” such actions to happen by “not showing authority and protecting” people fleeing to Ireland.

Asked about this incident earlier, O’Gorman said that he had seen the reports but had not yet confirmed them. However, he described it as “absolutely unacceptable”.

Bus boarding

Today saw protesters boarding a bus carrying international protection applicants who were told they were being recorded so that protesters could keep track of the number who were entering the site.

One Green Party TD, Neasa Hourigan, told The Journal that the alleged headcount incident needed to be met by gardaí “stepping up to a new level”. 

Gardaí in turn have defended their handling of the protest, claiming they have enacted a “proportional response” which has led to “positive engagement” with demonstrators and others.

They claimed in their response that the demonstration has been “peaceful” to date.

The incident, which was first reported by RTÉ reporter John Cooke, was condemned as “absolutely unacceptable” by Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman earlier today.

Eimear O’Connor, who is the manager of the Clare Immigrant Support Centre, told The Journal: “Some local people did a headcount and a video of the people that were on the bus, and said they would be doing the same when the bus returns to make sure that only the same number of people came back.

“My reaction is one of horror to be brutally honest, because that’s a very intimidatory thing to do.”

That’s a very intimidatory thing to do.

She said the men were “made to feel extremely unwelcome on arrival” last Monday.

Lucky Khambule, spokesperson for Masi, said the government and gardaí had not dealt with protesters and anti-migrant groups in a string of incidents he listed out stretching back to 2018.

“The gardaí must come to the aid of people that are vulnerable and action needs to happen,” he said. “Nobody is listening to the government, nobody is listening to the ministers because they talk and nothing happens.”

O’Connor said the support centre where she works is part-funded by the Department of Justice and assists refugees by helping them to seek work.

“Most of the men that arrived are very young, mostly in their 20s, one or two of them are over 40 if as much. A lot of them are here for five months so are eligible for work permits.

“That is their main focus, to get working and get settled and we’re signposting them into a local development company.”

Government response

Minister O’Gorman was backed by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who told reporters during a visit to the Council of Europe in Iceland that while engagement will be done with the local community, it’s “not a situation whereby we can allow any community to stop people moving into their area”.

Varadkar added: “You know, we’re facing a housing crisis. We’re facing an international refugee crisis triggered by war in Ukraine and war in other parts of the world. And we have to do our best by people and that means using all accommodation available.”

He said it was “too soon to say” whether protests have escalated, pointing to how there were “disturbing” protests around East Wall in Dublin which later eased.

“We [have] seen an escalation now in the last week with events… in particular events in Durban and Sandwith Street. I think what those happen is, when we open new centres, that can be difficult.”

The Fine Gael leader added that several hundred offers of accommodation will be made to refugees by the end of the week.

The Journal understands these three centres are in Clondalkin, Dun Laoghaire and Santry.

Contains reporting by Eoghan Dalton, Tadgh McNally and Diarmuid Pepper in Iceland