Castletara protest goes into fourth week
Castletara residents, concerned about plans to house asylum seekers at a former equestrian centre property in the rural area, claim their questions around issues such as planning permission, staff training, security, transport and amenities have gone unanswered.
The residents, who have been staging a round-the-clock protest at the facility for almost three weeks now, have raised a number of concerns with representatives of International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS).
“We’ve asked things like whether IPAS have come out to inspect the property,” explained Adrian Delaney, a local resident.
The community is asking who, or what body approved the property as being suitable to house asylum seekers. “You can’t just ring IPAS and say ‘I have facilities here’; it [the inspection process] has to be more rigorous than that. If we didn’t get the tip-off that they [asylum seekers] were coming, then they would be in and we wouldn’t have known until it was too late,” said Mr Delaney.
“There are a lot of outstanding issues,” he continued, citing concerns about access, transport, staff training and activities for residents among others.
He says residents are frustrated with the lack of information and this is creating “fear among the residents, especially the elderly and families with kids”.
Sinn Féin TD Pauline Tully met with residents recently.
“The people out there are open to inviting people to the community but they’re concerned this [property/location] isn’t suitable. They would be better off in a larger town. There are also a lot of questions with things like planning, etc. It appears to be very rushed.
“The residents feel there are too many people arriving for such a rural area... and they say the necessary support for the people who are coming isn’t in place. We don’t know who they are, where they are coming from, whether they will be able to work, are they coming from traumatic situations such as a war. We don’t know what’s in place,” Deputy Tully told the Celt. She believes, generally, that more resources need to be allocated towards the placement of refugees. “We have an obligation to take people in and support them, but this is not the right way. The process for identifying if they are genuine asylum seekers, it takes 18 months, which is too long. Direct Provision should be abolished. It’s not fit for purpose.
“I recognise the government has a big task to get people into accommodation, but it’s not fair to put people into tents [as the government did in Stradbally]. They need more resources and staff to ensure communities are consulted and facilities are inspected and they aren’t coming into a hostile environment with a vacuum of information.”
The Department of Integration has been contacted for an up-to-date comment. It previously stated: “Contracts for accommodation are not agreed until such time as IPAS officials have been provided with evidence that all applicable building and planning obligations have been met by the provider.”