Tensions rise over refugee accommodation

by Páraic McMahon @clareecho.ie

TENSIONS escalated in Shannon on Saturday morning as members of the public gathered for a meeting to discuss plans to accommodate refugees in the town’s industrial estate.

be; ‘If this had happened in a tourist hotel, would we brush all guests that weekend with the same brush?’ or would we say ‘all Cork people are a certain way’ if those involved were from Cork, for example”.

He added, “I live close to the hotel in question and often see those living there outside and in the shop nearby and there are never any issues. Of course, people may feel intimidated by groups of people ‘hanging around’ but all interactions I have seen have been nothing but friendly with local people welcoming people to the town. I can completely understand local people’s concerns in Shannon, and people have a right to raise such concerns and ask questions looking for more information, but in my experience issues in Killarney have been blown completely out of proportion”.

A native of Limerick, the UL graduate acknowledged “there are well founded concerns in relation to the pressure bringing extra people to the town has had on local services such as GPs, the overall health system, local schools but this is nothing different to say a local factory opening up and hundreds of people moving to the town for employment. We had serious pressure on certain services before any war in Ukraine or before hundreds of refugees were moved to Killarney”.

Issues must be tackled locally in Shannon but “unfounded concerns” in Killarney should not be brought into the equation, he said.

“One thing I remember covering Shannon during my time as a journalist in Clare was how friendly a town it is and how welcoming it is, something I believe is a result of the fact it is a new town and built on generations of people who moved there from elsewhere. I hope concerns are tackled locally but if such concerns are based on ‘what is happening in Killarney’ then I believe, from my experience, that they are unfounded concerns based on misconceptions of people, who if given the proper channel to integrate into life in Shannon, will add more to life there than they will take away from life in the town”.

Scant information has been issued to both the public and elected representatives to date on the Government’s mooted plans to house refugees at a unit in the Shannon Industrial Estate.

Close to 200 people gathered at the Band Stand of Shannon Town Park on Saturday to air their views with personalities clashing. Three members of An Garda Síochána were present to ensure matters did not get out of control.

Local residents formed the vast majority of those in attendance while the presence of far-right protester Graham Carey who previously suggested taking control of Dublin Airport “with a rucksack” in November and was also involved in organising a protest outside the home of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (FG) over COVID-19 vaccinations.

Politicians were banned from attending the meeting but organisers later said that elected representatives needed to step up and provide further information to the community.

Present difficulties in accessing medical services, accommodation, school places and staffing were voiced by those opposed to the use of the Industrial Estate for housing refugees. Individuals that wanted to extend a welcome to the refugees highlighted how a large amount of the persons are fleeing war.

Michelle McAleen Hayes began the discussion at Saturday’s meeting, criticising the lack of consultation with local residents and county councillors. “Why is this empty building going to be used to accommodate asylum seekers, what countries are these people from, have they been vetted and do they have the correct documents to come into this country. I’m so concerned at what’s going on in Killarney and CityWest. As we know this does not end well”.

Elaine Kingston Durbin who was the main organiser of the Shannon meeting told the crowd that its residents were “tired of being left with no services or access to GPs”.

“Roderic O’Gorman is not on the phone to (local GP) Yvonne Williams on a Monday trying to get an appointment, he’s not spending an hour trying to get through to someone to get his bloods done. The people making the decisions about Shannon are not affected by the decisions that they’re making about our town.”

Opposition to the addition of more refugees in Shannon was voiced by the majority of speakers but Elaine stressed, “the people of Shannon are not racist” and explained that she had to Google the meeting of far-right in advance of the meeting.

That refugees were fleeing wartorn countries was raised by one speaker in the crowd. Another attendee who was keen to see Shannon welcome more refugees was asked if they had welcomed persons fleeing war into their own home.

No detail on the amount of refugees that will be housed in the building has been provided by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. A figure of “up to 400 people” was mentioned by Jason Casey when addressing the meeting.

“They are all from different backgrounds and religions, look at Killarney the people there are afraid to walk the streets, we need to be very concerned and ask the questions”.

Concluding the meeting, Elaine stated that refugees were “victims of a broken system”.

She added, “We need this committee to meet and represent the l Shannon residents air differing views at Saturday’s views of Shannon”. In response, a woman in the crowd said, “they are not the views of Shannon. There are 10,000 people in Shannon, this committee will not represent them all”. Dickson then retorted, “you can form your own