JUNIOR INTEGRATION MINISTER Joe O’Brien has told a delegation of locals who have been protesting outside a refugee accommodation centre in Co Clare that no more asylum seekers would be housed there for the next month.
O’Brien made the surprise visit to Magowna House in Inch, Co Clare this evening, where he met with asylum seekers staying in the hotel and examined the existing facilities.
He also held a meeting with delegation of locals who have been protesting outside the facility.
The visit is part of efforts to end the ongoing blockade of the hotel, which began on Monday evening.
Speaking to reporters following the meeting, O’Brien said that he had asked the delegation to lift the blockade outside of the hotel, but that the group would take the proposal back to the community to be considered.
“They are going to take some proposals back to the wider community and see if they will be accepted,” O’Brien said.
“My request was that the barricades are taken down, and in four weeks time, I’ll come back down and meet with them again.
“During that four-week period, there will be no additional people coming to Magowna House.”
The visit by O’Brien comes just a day after Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman said that he would be happy to speak to a delegation of locals either by video conference or at his Department.
O’Brien said the main reason he had visited Inch was to ask the delegation to remove the barricade to the hotel.
I don’t feel it’s an acceptable thing to do. I understand why they’ve done it. I don’t agree with it, and that’s why I’m here to convince them, hopefully, to take that barricade.
Asked by reporters whether he thought the barricade would be lifted, O’Brien said: “I hope so, but they have to have discussions.
“Look, I met two decent groups of people today. I met the international protection applicants where they’re staying and I met the representatives of Inch. They’re reasonable people, they’re good people,” he said.
He said the residents “had concerns tonight about what the men will do, and these are things we want to work on over the next four weeks as well”.
“I would say they do feel angry about how they’ve been portrayed. They were also very clear to distinguish themselves from people who would be associated with the far right. The people I spoke to today are not associated with the far right. They’re normal, decent people.
“They have concerns and we’re going to try and do our best to address them.”
O’Brien added that he hoped that in four weeks’ time, the people of Inch “will see that this is a better situation for the residents, and a better situation and a less fearful one for them as well”.
“Barriers need to come down, I’ll come back down in four weeks’ time and we’ll discuss where people are then. We’re not thinking beyond that at the moment.
“I’ve told them, I would very much like this to be a place where we can bring more people. They have concerns about that, but we’re in a four-week timespan now and that’s as much as we agreed to.”
O’Gorman and Justice Minister Simon Harris met with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and others this evening, ina meeting where the government “reassured” them of its “ongoing support for their work”.
A spokesperson for the government said that the Ministers and Commissioner agreed that finding accommodation for currently unaccommodated asylum seekers is an “absolute priority for the safety of the individuals involved”.
“The ongoing liaison between An Garda Síochána and the government on the provision of accommodation was discussed,” the spokesperson said.
“The Ministers and Commissioner committed themselves to further develop on this, including at a local level.
“The Commissioner told the Ministers that a number of investigations are underway into recent incidents and that these are live and active.”
Earlier today, Simon Harris said that those who “cross the line between protest and seeking to endanger” asylum seekers will face the “full rigour of the law”.
Harris also said that the blockade being carried out by local residents intended to prevent asylum seekers accessing a hotel where they are to be housed “is not the way to proceed”.
“I can understand anybody in a community wanting information. I think that it is perfectly appropriate for people to ask questions,” Harris further said, adding “any of us would want that”.
Harris went on to say however that we are living through a war in Europe, and a “humanitarian crisis” across the continent, and that “we have to respond”.
“Sometimes the perfect is impossible,” he added.
Policing of protests
O’Gorman confirmed that three new accommodation centres for asylum seekers are to open in Dublin, as the Government has been scrambling to house international protection applicants sleeping rough.
The centres will located at the Airways Industrial Estate in Santry, the former Senior College on Eblana Avenue in Dún Laoghaire, and Dolcain House in Clondalkin.
An extra 350 beds for asylum seekers are to be made available in the next few days, but work has to be done to secure fire safety certificates, amongst other preparations, RTÉ News has reported.
It is understood that Harris and O’Gorman are meeting with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris this evening to discuss how protests have been policed, with pressure mounting on the government and gardaí over how protests have been policed.
It comes as Green Party TD and justice spokesman Patrick Costello has requested Gardai Commissioner and senior Gardaí attend Justice Committee over policing strategy for attacks on migrants and asylum centres.
The Dublin South-Central TD claimed that gardaí have “tolerating the growing use of violence and intimidation” at protests and that Garda management must explain as to “why Gardaí are not intervening in escalating cases”.
“The recent escalation in behaviour by those protesting against migrants is absolutely unacceptable. However, there appears to be a reluctance to effectively police these protests and an inconsistency with how other protest groups have been handled in the past,” he said.
“There is a legal protection of the right to protest, but the gardai seem to be tolerating the growing use violence and intimidation on our streets. The Gardaí were present at the protest on Sandwich street and yet shortly after the counter protestors were led away, the camp was set on fire.”
Yesterday, a Garda spokesperson told The Journal that gardaí “continue to have a proportionate response” to what they said was a “peaceful demonstration” outside the hotel in Inch.
They further stated that they have been providing access to and from the premises.
The Immigrant Council of Ireland has urged gardaí to provide a “strong response” to anti-migrant groups which have been involved in the demonstrations, noting reports that “protesters boarded a bus in a clear invasion of privacy for the migrant men on-board”.
Chief executive Brian Killoran said those who seek protection in Ireland are “human beings deserving of dignity, human rights and an opportunity to feel safe and welcome” in Ireland.
It follows calls from the Movement for Asylum Seekers in Ireland (Masi) and Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan who have urged An Garda Síochána to tackle anti-migrant actions in a more proactive manner.
Killoran said the incidents in Dublin and Clare have shown that “tensions at community level can quickly escalate” and that support is needed so communities can “organise resistance to the far-right”.
Urging strong law enforcement responses to far-right organisations, Killoran continued:
“The far-right in Ireland may be small, but they are bent on disruption and intimidation, and as we have seen this past week, are not above the use of violence as an ever-present threat.”
In terms of the wider policing of protests, the Garda spokesperson told The Journal: “Any Garda response in relation to evolving events is in keeping with a community policing model and graduated policing response taking into account relevant legislation and public safety.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar called for the blockade in Clare to end yesterday.
Asked by The Journal today about whether or not there’s a contingency plan if it does not end, Varadkar said:
“The objective is to engage with the local community, to answer their questions, to give them reasonable assurances and we would hope that at the end of that, that would allow the blockade to be lifted and for us to provide accommodation. I don’t want to get into hypotheticals at this stage. I think that probably wouldn’t be helpful.
Asked whether or not rural communities believed that housing asylum seekers was an issue primarily for urban communities, Rural Affairs Minister Heather Humphreys said that it was important for concerns to be addressed.
“I understand for small rural communities there are concerns there and it’s incumbent on us all to work with them and to allay those fears and have that conversation and we’re doing that,” Humphreys said.
Sinn Féin TD for Dublin North-West, Dessie Ellis told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland about the government’s consultation with his constituency in Santry where 303 men will be accommodated.
“I spoke to Roderic and IPAS and insisted that he meet or at least engage with residents’ associations, which he did approximately two weeks ago,” Ellis said.
“We received a reply in the last number of days answering a number of queries from residents. And I think that was the right thing to do. That was what we requested, that there be some form of consultation with residents.”
When asked if O’Gorman should travel to Clare to speak with local protesters, Ellis said that an in-person consultation would devolve into “a literal shouting match”.
“You get people from the far right, you’ll get local residents who have genuine concerns, but it never really works and I think the way it’s been done here and with the residents there over the Airways centre, by engaging with the different community groups, is the right way to do it.”
Additional reporting by Eimer McAuley, Tadgh McNally and Jane Moore
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