After local protesters prevented a convoy of more than 15 lorries carrying modular homes from entering a site in the Westmeath village of Coole last night, it has now emerged the Department of Integration had no contract for the houses at the site.
And one woman I spoke to – who has been was refused planning permission to build in the village, despite being from Westmeath and having elderly parents she wishes to care for in Coole – said seeing the modular homes arriving was “a massive kick in the teeth”.
Enterprise Minister Peter Burke admits the government had no planning permission for the 18 modular homes in Coole.
They won’t be coming back. #IrelandBelongsToTheIrish pic.twitter.com/qFv2HACyoa
— Niall O’Hara 🇮🇪 (@ThoughtsToby) May 17, 2024
In a statement, the Department of Integration said it “has no contract in place for the provision of modular homes at this address. The department did receive an offer for additional capacity at the site through the tender process. This offer has been rejected, as it did not comply with planning regulations.
“The provider has already been advised that this offer was refused. Only the accommodation currently in use at this site is contracted to the department and no additional capacity is planned at this site,” the department said.
Queued up for Coole Village, Westmeath. No consultation, No planning, No facilities for another 170 migrants on top of the 100 already in place. This village needs support pic.twitter.com/btYpTptlYy
— Gerry O’Malley (@Mall14770O) May 17, 2024
The issues raised by this week’s protest echo the concerns expressed by locals in Coole last year when a packed meeting told the local paper: “we can’t build a house, but we can build an asylum centre”.
Coole is home to approximately 500 residents and is just over 3.6 square kilometres in size. When the government pressed ahead with the first asylum centre last winter, the village experienced a population increase of almost 20%. The modular homes which arrived last night were set to be placed next to that asylum centre.
Coole Co.Westmeath this morning. This is both staggering and disgusting. Time to call these Gombeens out @eirenews_ie @TheBurkeanIE @TheLiberal_ie @griptmedia @Irishchannell @IrelandFirst23 @IrexitFreedom @NationalPartyIE @Andy66202501 @BenGilroyIRL #IrelandIsFull pic.twitter.com/t7d0EyOXvp
— Gombeen Nation (@JayMcdz52850) May 17, 2024
I spoke to Megan Gammell today whose parents live in the area. She said that she and her husband had been refused planning permission to build in Castlepollard, which is close to Coole, despite the care needs of her family, even though she has lived in Westmeath for most of her life.
She was told that the policy that only locals could apply was enforced – even though they have lived a short drive from the village and from Coole, and even though, similar to many others of her age, the care needs of ageing parents is a pressing issue.
“We were refused planning on a 3 bed log cabin, which would be half the cost of a house now and much more economical and energy efficient,” she said. She felt that even a cabin in her parents’ garden would also be refused.
“I was laughed at when I told the Council that the care needs of parents was a huge consideration; I was told ‘that’s everyone’s excuse’, which was a horrible thing to hear. My father is in remission from cancer and that’s a huge worry. I want to be close to my parents to help them, we can help each other, it would greatly benefit my parents and my family,” she said.
“We are in a huge housing crisis and I hear a lot from our government about carbon tax and lowering our carbon foot print. So I have to ask why wouldn’t log cabins be considered? If approved they would help young people especially with rising costs we have little or no hope of surviving,” she pointed out.
“When you look at modular homes being built for people who’ve just arrived it seems this doesn’t apply to Ukrainians, for example, and Irish people are left wondering how this is fair,” Ms Gammell said.
“When I heard this morning about the lorries coming last night, I was actually in tears, it felt like a punch in the stomach,” she said. “Honestly, when there’s no help like this for Irish people who are without homes, its really a lot to take.”
She said that 100 migrants were being already housed in Coole already, and welcomed the departure of the lorries carrying modular homes to the village. She said that in Castlepollard, a former nursing home had been turned into a centre for Ukrainians.
“What’s happening at the moment is devastating for my generation. We see this happening and that the government doesn’t seem to care about Irish people. If we were given a modular home as a starter home, more of my generation would stay. We’d have nurses and teachers staying; we’d be able to have kids and rear a family.”
“This can be done for strangers coming into the country but not for Irish people, its infuriating and deeply upsetting,” she said. “People who’ve just arrived are getting handed stuff before our own people. Can the government not look after us first? Do we not matter.”
“I know so many people at home again with their parents, they are the hidden homeless. It’s like the government thinks: ‘we’ll take your taxes and do what we want with it. We can flood your villages, wreck the tourism industry, but we’ve no money for mental health or to help our own.”
“Our taxes are being spent on accommodation and catering and providing services to people who arrive here, and my generation is leaving in droves. A lot of the friends we grew up with are gone to Canada, or New Zealand or Australia, they won’t come home no prospect of buying home,” she said.
She said that elderly people living alone in villages like Coole can already feel isolated and fearful. “A lot of local mothers have very serious concerns too because we don’t know these men, we don’t know where they come from, many of them came here without passports, but we’re meant to just say nothing,” she added.
When local TDs confirmed this afternoon that the developer had no contract to allow the modular homes being placed in Coole, it became obvious they could not stay.
After what was described to me as a “tense 12 hours”, the lorries started their engines again this afternoon and pulled out of Coole. The locals applauded as they left.
Cheers in Coole village in Westmeath as cranes depart after being parked for more than 9 hours. pic.twitter.com/2fSqLHg3FI
— Midlands103 (@Midlands103) May 17, 2024
Victory in Coole Co WestMeath!
The cabins are being sent back to Derry as cheers from locals ring out! #IrelandBelongsToTheIrish #IrelandIsFull pic.twitter.com/GpaaGrD6C6
— Niall O’Hara 🇮🇪 (@ThoughtsToby) May 17, 2024