The Roscommon says No to IPAS group has welcomed the Department of Migration’s decision to rule out a controversial proposal to place an IPAS Centre in Roscommon Town.
The Department told the Roscommon Herald that the offer of Academy House in Goff Street for asylum accommodation “is no longer under consideration”.
Earlier this year, Roscommon County Council turned down a planning application for a proposed centre when the applicant sought a ‘Class 20F Exemption’ to accommodate people seeking international protection.
The exemption allows development of asylum accommodation without ordinary planning processes. The case is currently with An Coimisiún Pleanála for adjudication with a decision due August 18th.
Following the Department’s statement on Academy House this week, the Roscommon Says NO group said they “warmly welcomed” the decision – adding “it cannot be understated how positive this decision is for the future of the town, and we hope it will truly be the end to that particular proposal.”
Hundreds had attended a march in the town earlier this month, which chair of Roscommon Says No, Danika Donlon, described as a “day of defiance” – while local man Cyril Martin said that if a local person wanted to extend or build a house they needed to seek planning in a transparent way, but that did not apply to the IPAS system where billions were being paid out.
The protest was also addressed by Garda whistleblower, John Wilson, who gained national recognition for drawing attention to irregularities within the penalty points system.
Wilson told Northern Sound that the protesters were frustrated at successive government for failing to listen to local people on the issue. The former garda defended the protest saying that “Ireland belongs to the Irish”, stating it was not a racist comment. “If you asked a Polish person in Ireland who does Poland belong to, he won’t say ‘the Zimbabweans’, he’d say the Polish,” he added.
“Why should we have to apologise for flying our own national flag,” he also argued.
The Roscommon Says No to IPAS group said that they would continue to campaign as they believed that Academy House was just the first attempt to establish an asylum centre in the town.
“With regards to the future of the group, our mission statement, has always been to prevent the IPAS and any other future proposed IPAS centres in the town and surrounding areas. We believe that while this was the first attempt in the town, it won’t be the last, given the financial incentives and patterns we see nationwide,” they said.
“We would also ask that if any member of the public has any information on other potential centres that they’d like to bring to our attention, to come along to the meeting or get in touch with the Facebook group – Roscommon says No to IPAS. For us, this is a marathon, not a sprint and we plan to persevere as a group for as long as we feel there is a need,” the group said, saying a planned public meeting for next Tuesday would go ahead.