LAST UPDATE | 14 Jul 2022
GORMANSTON TENTED ACCOMMODATION in Meath will open on Monday to house refugees arriving from Ukraine, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has confirmed.
The move comes as newly-arrived fleeing war in Ukraine and asylum seekers from other countries are staying in Dublin Airport due to a lack of space in State-provided accommodation.
The DAA said that it has made the Old Central Terminal building at Dublin Airport available to the Government to help facilitate the arrival of Ukrainian nationals into the country.
The Taoiseach and relevant ministers met today to discuss the shortage of accommodation after the Citywest facility in west Dublin reached full capacity last night.
In a statement this evening, the Government said more than 160 people fleeing Ukraine have been transferred out of Dublin Airport today.
The statement said that the time new arrivals spend in the Old Terminal building is intended to be “kept to a minimum” and that the most vulnerable people are prioritised for transfer.
Cabinet only recently signed off on a proposal to lease the Citywest Hotel in Dublin for two years to accommodate Ukrainian refugees.
The hotel and conference centre can accommodate about 2,300 people fleeing the war.
Alternative sites and centres, such as stadiums, could also be opened as part of a “multi-layered response” to the situation, sources have told The Journal.
The Defence Forces began constructing a large tent village for Ukrainian refugees in Gormanston Camp in March, but it was hoped that it would be used only as a last resort.
Government intervention
The Ukraine Civil Society Forum, a network that includes 65 civil society organisations involved in the emergency response and settlement of Ukrainian refugees to Ireland has called on the Government to intervene on the accommodation crisis.
In a statement today, the forum said that the reliance on hotels in response to the refugee crisis is “unsustainable”, adding that more medium term solutions need to be activated “with urgency”.
The National Co-ordinator of the network, Emma Lane-Spollen, said: “The crisis in Citywest will happen again if we don’t do something new. We need the big decisions to be made now. A new agency, a national lead and a thought through plan. We have to move from crisis mode to get on top of the situation.”
She added: “We must remember that we are talking about women, children and the elderly, all already traumatised, we need to make them safe. The war in Ukraine is not ending, and Ireland will continue to have to meet its international obligations to all refugees.”
This sentiment has been echoed by the UN Refugee Agency.
Enda O’Neill, the organisation’s Head of Office, said in a statement that while the Government “is to be commended” for providing refuge to tens of thousands of asylum seekers this year, “it is becoming increasingly clear that the current approach of contracting accommodation from the private sector has reached its limits.”
Director of the Ukrainian Crisis Centre Michael Baskin told The Journal that he is hopeful the Coalition will step in and assist in finding a solution to the problem, and continue to support Ukrainian refugees despite the current accommodation difficulties.
He said: “From the Taoiseach’s message to President Zelenskyy in Ukraine last week, Ireland doesn’t intend to stop accepting refugees… They will for as long as they can.
“I hope [the Government] will intervene, because there is no other way of sorting it other than at the really high government level and probably speed decisions have to be made,” he added.
UK Rwanda policy
Speaking to reporters at Government Buildings this morning, the Taoiseach hit out against the UK’s controversial policy of deporting refugees to Rwanda.
He called it “wrong” and a “shocking initiative”, stating that it is one of a number of factors behind the surge in the number of people seeking access to the International Protection Service (IPS) which is causing a severe shortage of available accommodation for both people arriving from Ukraine and International Protection applicants.
Taoiseach says UK Rwanda policy appears to have had an impact on IPS applicant increase here in Ireland. pic.twitter.com/yQxneTrch5
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) July 14, 2022
Speaking about the surge in international protection application numbers, the Taoiseach said annually, the country would deal with 3,500 applications.
“This year, that could be four or five times that figure, maybe more by the end of the year,” he said.
7,080 IPS applicants have arrived in Ireland this year up to 13 July, the Government said. This compared with 2,648 arrivals in all of 2021.
A Government statement said there is now a “severe shortage” of available accommodation.
While Citywest was designed as a reception centre for Ukrainians fleeing war, around 70% of those staying in Citywest are international protection applicants, confirmed the Taoiseach.
War zones
Micheál Martin said a “deeper analysis” of the international protection system will need to be done as it is “quite significant” and is “placing a considerable strain on existing State accommodation efforts”.
While he said he did not want to get into many specifics in terms of what a response might be, he added:
We do have to look at the international protection system fairly immediately, given the numbers that we’re seeing.
The Government will prioritise those who are fleeing war or very vulnerable situations, he said.
“That will have to be our prioritisation. And in terms of our response, in terms of emergency accommodation, we have to also deal with anomalies that have arisen now within our existing international protection system, in its totality.
“And that would be the subject matter of today’s meeting,” he said.
Of the 41,000 Ukrainians that have arrived into Ireland, 30,000 have been offered accommodation, he added.
“We as a country have a legal but more importantly a moral obligation to provide for Ukrainians who are fleeing war,” he said, adding that the vast majority coming to Ireland are mothers and children.
Dublin Airport
Last night, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability Integration and Youth stated that anyone arriving into Ireland will have to stay in the airport if they do not have somewhere to stay.
It is likely that refugees are sleeping in chairs or on camp beds until accommodation becomes available, according to Secretary General of the Irish Red Cross, Liam O’Dwyer.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, O’Dwyer said that members of the Red Cross posted at ports and airports have “come across people who have had to stay in seated accommodation overnight while accommodation is being sourced”.
A statement from a spokesperson for Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman confirmed that an increase in IPS applicants stating that this has caused overcrowding in the Citywest Transit Hub, which is used to assess and streamline refugees arriving at Dublin Airport.
This sentiment was echoed by O’Dwyer this morning. He said that Ireland was seeing more refugees choosing Ireland over Britain as they expect to get a better welcome here than across the Irish Sea.
“Additional refugees have come from other countries seeking international protection and, ultimately, twice the number that have come before from other countries and I suspect that has to do with what’s going on in Britain with the Rwanda solution as they describe it and that has certainly compounded the matter for the Government.
“There are almost certainly more people coming to Ireland seeking that protection and seeking refuge here. People know they will get a welcome here,” he said.
According to Minister O Gorman’s spokesperson, the Government is working “intensively” to sort alternative arrangements for refugees arriving into Ireland seeking State-provided accommodation.
He said: “Ensuring the security, health and safety of people who are fleeing Ukraine has been, and remains, a top priority for the Government since the Russian attack began in February.
“Most of the people arriving in Ireland are women and children.
“This effort has involved, inter alia, all relevant Government Departments and offices, local authorities, the Defence Forces and State agencies such as Tusla and the HSE,” he added.
With reporting by Garreth MacNamee and Sarah McGuinness.
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