The Department of Integration has said works to develop International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) accommodation at a site in County Wicklow have “stalled” due to the ongoing presence of protestors.
The Department of Integration told Gript it had “gratefully accepted” an offer to use the site as accommodation for asylum seekers on the grounds of River Lodge, Trudder Newtownmountkennedy in Co.Wicklow.
As Gript previously reported, locals in the area have been staging a protest since learning of the proposed developments, saying that the area is not suitable to house asylum seekers in what is understood to be military tents.
Getting information from Government is "like trying to get blood from a stone" say protestors in Newtownmountkennedy, Co. Wicklow where IPAS is planning to put migrant accommodation. pic.twitter.com/yDuqf3mH4L
— gript (@griptmedia) March 21, 2024
Photos of the site obtained by Gript show large sections of the grounds partially submerged after substantial rainfall over the weekend.
In a statement issued to Gript the local protest group said that the building “was only ever used and only ever supposed to be used as a residential center for itinerant children.”
“Trudder House (River Lodge) is listed on the list of Institutions and Schools of Children’s Residential Centres (SI No 125/1992 of the Child Care Act, Children’s Residential Centres). Its use would only ever have housed 20-30 people at a time and would certainly not have been deemed for use as a campsite for 160 or more asylum seekers.”
They say the Department of Integration plan “infringes on the intensification of the user of the property and site.”
“The immediate area has no footpaths or lighting and Newtownmoutkennedy itself needs many many upgraded services for its own current population let alone an influx of hundreds of extra people.”
The statement continues describing how “the whole area was completely flooded” in recent days due to “extreme rainfall” and is “not habitable for any kind of tents or pods.”
The protest group says that for “many many years” local TD’s have “urged Wicklow County Council to have this property given to Newtownmountkennedy as a community facility including Jennifer Whitmore in 2019.”
Journalist Myles Buchanan reported that a meeting held two weeks ago between representatives of IPAS, the HSE, local representative and a number of people local to the area had heard that the ownership of the site was unclear.
Buchanan reported comments made by Senator Pat Casey who said that documents pertaining to the property “clearly indicate an ownership issue”.
Cllr. Shay Cullen accused the Department of Integration of ‘ploughing ahead’ with the development of the site saying it “appears they may have been spending taxpayers money preparing a site that they don’t have a legal entitlement to.”
He described the IPAS system as being “totally flawed”.
Speaking to Gript Cllr. Cullen said that both local representatives and the local people were still largely in the dark as to what exactly the Department of Integration plans to do with the site.
Cullen said that information had been given of plans to put “28 man tents” on the site saying “we don’t believe that the site is suitable.”
“The protest is continuing, we’re waiting for answers in terms of the ownership of the site and that’s really where it’s at at the moment.”
Cullen said that questions had been asked in relation to having an environmental impact assessment of the site carried out as well as about issues related to its rural location.
He described the area as having “no footpath” and “no lighting”.
“There’s a lot of questions that have been put to IPAS that haven’t been answered at this point in time,” he said.
Gript contacted the Department of Integration asking how many people they propose to house at the site, and whether it was a suitable location.
We received the following response, “In response to the accommodation crisis, the HSE has offered the vacant property of Trudder House (also known as River Lodge) and its surrounding lands to assist the department in accommodating those seeking international protection.”
“The department has gratefully accepted this offer and was assessing how it might best utilise this property, following preliminary groundworks at the site. However, due to access to the site being prevented by protestors, these works have stalled, so the department has been prevented from progressing this offer any further.”
“A Community Engagement Team (CET) has been established to engage directly with elected representatives, relevant Local Authorities, Local Development Companies, and other entities and individuals. The purpose of the team is to improve the flow of information regarding arrivals into areas and to help equip local communities with the accurate information required to help them understand the current situation and to assist with the welcome and integration process for new arrivals.”
The Department of Integration also said, “There are nearly 28,500 people accommodated in the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) system as a whole (of whom over 6,000 are children) compared with over 8,575 at the end of February 2022. Together with Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection displaced by the war in Ukraine, this means that Ireland is now accommodating over 100,000 people in state-supported accommodation.”
“This is a nationwide urgent situation and centres have been opened in all parts of the country. All of the limited accommodation capacity within the IPAS system is currently being used. While demand continues to outstrip supply, the Department on behalf of the Government, is doing all it can to ensure that all families and children have been accommodated.”