Five local county councillors in Athlone have launched legal action against the development of refugee accommodation in Lissywollen.
The site in question has been a direct provision centre since 2000, and was designed for short term use to meet temporary need. However, the government announced plans in October for the centre’s expansion to house an additional 1,000 refugees by installing tented accommodation and modular homes.
It is being developed by Ministerial Order, which was published recently.
A spokesperson from the campaign group Athlone Stands Together recently told this outlet: “The people of Athlone stood together to raise their concerns about the ongoing work for the new ipa centre currently being built within Athlone. The people spoke of their worries regarding the fact there will be 1,000 to 1,500 men who will not be vetted for up to 18 months placed in Athlone beside a creche and a school with no idea who or where they are coming from.”
There has been a continuing protest at the entrance to the site in Lissywollen, just outside Athlone, with a significant Garda presence there this week. Last week saw a protest involving parents of children who attend the closeby Cornamaddy Community National School, with a number of parents deciding not to send their children to school for the day, the Westmeath Independent reports.
The protest resulted in over three-quarters of the school’s pupils being kept at home for the day, according to the parents’ association treasurer, Dearbhla Gayson, the local newspaper reported.
Despite continued protests, the first 100 men are scheduled to arrive on the site in the coming weeks, with more to follow.
Councillors Frankie Keena, Aengus O’Rourke, John Donal, Paul Hogan, and Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran released a joint statement on Thursday explaining that they had engaged a legal team consisting of a Solicitors firm, Senior Counsel, and a barrister to represent them. The councillors have instructed their legal team to commence a judicial review of the Ministerial Order and apply for interlocutory injunctive relief to stop the works.
They said they were challenging Minister Roderic O’Gorman’s Section 181 Order, and the “validity of that order given his lack of experience, knowledge, competency or qualification” in terms of the “very important environmental conditions that he has very clearly overlooked and failed to deal with.”
The local councillors have launched a Go Fund Me campaign page to raise funds for the legal bid, and have already raised over €14,000. Almost 400 people have donated to the fundraiser since it went live on Thursday.
On the page, they explain: “We, the five Athlone based County Councillors: Mayor Frankie Keena, John Dolan, Paul Hogan, Kevin Boxer Moran and Aengus O’Rourke are challenging the legality of the proposed development of a tented IPAS centre at Lissywollen, Athlone by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth, on environmental grounds.
“We have been working hard as a group in recent weeks to assemble an experienced legal team and to build a strong case. We are now satisfied that we have an excellent legal team in place to challenge this decision and a very strong case.
“However, legal action such as this is expensive. We are therefore turning to the people of Athlone and the local business community to help us fund this legal case. Our objective is very clear, we want to immediately and permanently stop this development.”
The local representatives say that all money raised will be used “exclusively to pay for the legal fees associated with this case including any professional environmental reports necessary to meet our objective,” and that all donations, large or small, will be very much appreciated.
“In the event that our fundraising efforts are oversubscribed we will distribute the excess money in equal amounts to the following local charities: Pieta House, South Westmeath Hospice, Esker House Women’s Refuge, Athlone Meals on Wheels, Athlone St Vincent de Paul, Athlone Irish Wheelchair Association.
“We have appointed a three person voluntary team from the local business community to manage this Go Fund Me account on our behalf to ensure that there is proper oversight and professional management of all monies collected.”
Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman has faced questioning and scrutiny over his Department’s plans for the site – but has defended the proposal.
In October, responding to a parliamentary question from TD Robert Troy, he said that the proposed development of the site at Lissywollen for the accommodation of International Protection Applicants was “an urgent and important project, part of an overall Government strategy to provide accommodation for people applying for international protection.”
“We are working to engage with local groups and representatives about this development, with a view to keeping people informed and answering any questions they may have about the development.” he said.
However, a packed meeting attended by roughly 350 people at an Athlone hotel last month heard that there had not been adequate consultation regarding the site, with the gathering described as “heated.”