Plans to turn a hostel housing homeless people in Cashel, Tipperary, into a migrant centre, have been scrapped following public backlash, local TD Mattie McGrath confirmed this evening.
In a statement, Deputy McGrath said: “I welcome confirmation via email this afternoon from the Department that following engagement with public representatives, the hostel in Cashel will not be used for IPAS applicants.”
Locals had been informed last Friday that 74 International Protection Applicants (IPAs) were due to be housed at the Cashel Hostel, which is located on John Street in the town, and were due to have arrived on Monday.
A statement shared by Deputy McGrath, addressed to Deputies, Senators, and Councillors, from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, read:
“The International Protection Procurement Services (IPPS) has been engaged in assessing the offer of this property for use as accommodation for International Protection Applicants (IPA’s), as per a proposal form submitted to the Department on 7th September 2023.
“It has now been clarified that full disclosure in respect of the previous use of the property had not been made at the time of the proposal.
“Following this clarification the Department has made the decision not to take up this offer of accommodation in Cashel Town Hostel as accommodation for IPAs, as to do so would impinge upon the provision of homeless accommodation services in County Tipperary.”
On Monday night, some 500 people packed Halla na Féile in Cashel for a public meeting which heard concern around government plans to house migrants in a hostel, which is privately owned and which is currently being used by Tipperary County Council to house homeless people in the town.
Following public anger over the proposals, the plans were paused, with local news outlet Tipperary Live describing the public information meeting as “explosive” – with locals expressing “shock and anger at the suddenness of the news and the numbers involved”.
Deputy McGrath said on Wednesday night that following on from a temporary pause to review the situation that was announced on Monday night, “the latest update disclosed that the use of this accommodation would impinge upon the provision of homeless accommodation services in County Tipperary.”
‘A LESSON FOR THE DEPARTMENT IN THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSULTATION’
Welcoming the development, he said:
“This is a common sense decision and I’m glad the Ministers and the department have rowed back on this following the concerns raised by so many members of the community in Cashel and beyond.
“I hope that this whole saga will be a lesson for the Department in the importance of consultation with local communities and elected representatives ahead of agreeing IPAS accommodation in towns and villages across the country going forward.”
Speaking to Gript at the weekend, the Tipperary Independent said that people in Cashel were shocked to learn that the hostel was set to switch to housing 74 asylum applicants from this week:
Mattie McGrath TD says that people in Cashel are shocked to learn a hostel currently being used to house homeless Irish people will switch to housing 74 asylum applicants next week.#gript pic.twitter.com/SsD2nZzI3I
— gript (@griptmedia) November 5, 2023
Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday, the member of the Rural Independent group accused “greedy developers” of making huge money from International Protection Applicants as he blasted a lack of consultation regarding the controversial plans – as he demanded a full debate on the issue.
“We are certainly the land of the céad míle fáilte and we want to be, but when it came to Cashel especially, why displace our own homeless people by taking a hostel that is part of the Tipperary action plan for housing and for homeless people?” the TD said.
“The building is being used for that. Why is there not proper consultation? There is no consultation. Why is there not proper engagement?
“Surely the Minister should have checked with the county council whether it was using this facility, which it is. Now our unfortunate homeless people who were in that hostel and had been promised they could be there for the next number of weeks have all been moved out in advance of today’s imminent arrival of 74 male applicants from we do not know where.
“It is has been very badly handled,” he continued. “The people are welcoming and Cashel people are welcoming, but they need to be engaged with, listened to and understood.”
Pressing Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman on the situation in Cashel, the TD said:
“Officials from the Minister’s Department told me they want accommodation and their duty is to get it from wherever, whoever and whatever, so we need to be very realistic. I salute the people who took Ukrainians into their houses and homes.
“It was the spirit of the meitheal and the welcoming Irish. However, this is a situation where greedy developers are buying up premises, some of which are in very bad condition, and getting a fortune.”
Deputy McGrath continued:
“Some have got €15 million. Above all, we must have a cut-off measure as we cannot continue this. I am told 800 international applicants are coming in per week. We just cannot cope with that.”
He spoke of the plight of one woman who was being left in a difficult situation because of the plans to house International Protection Applicants at the former holiday hostel:
“We have 12,500 homeless ourselves and many of those are children. In this case in Cashel we have – I will not say “evicted” because it is too emotive a word – removed persons who were in the hostel.
“I know that one of them has mental health issues – she is a constituent of mine whom I helped- and had been hoping to be there for a number of weeks. There were many others. They have been moved out with no place to go.”
In response to Deputy McGrath, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said in the Dáil on Tuesday that there would be “community engagement” on the matter, saying that the Department was “examining” the situation in Cashel.