Sixty asylum seekers have been moved into Trudder House in Newtownmountkennedy.
It is understood that 60 asylum seekers were moved from Crooksling, Co Dublin, to the Co Wicklow site at River Lodge, also known as Trudder House, in the small county Wicklow town last night.
In a statement, the Department of Integration confirmed that “approximately 60 International Protection Applicants are accommodated at Trudder House.”
Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman today confirmed that the move, which has been met with determined opposition from locals, had gone ahead,
Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One on Monday, Minister O’Gorman said that his Department would engage with the HSE and other State agencies to secure additional sites.
It came as over 200 asylum seekers were moved from tents in Mount Street the city centre on Monday to two other sites in county Dublin.
Minister O’Gorman said that asylum seekers have arrived at Crooksling in Dublin and Trudder, in Newtownmountkennedy, Wicklow.
“There are a number of international protection applicants now living – accommodated – at the site in Trudder,” Mr O’Gorman said. “Those are two State-owned sites provided by the HSE, and we will be engaging with the HSE and other State agencies in terms of bringing on additional sites.
“And that’s the most immediate, I suppose the most practical way, that we can avoid situations where people are sleeping rough; that we can bring on more sites like this where we can rapidly provide that basic level of accommodation.”
Asked about the government’s decision in light of continued protests in Newtownmountkennedy, Mr O’Gorman said that protestors had “stepped well beyond the law.”
“Of course people are entitled to protest; people are entitled to disagree with government policy, but that has to be done within the law. And as we know from the scenes in Trudder, certainly a number of those protestors stepped well beyond the law in terms of their attacks on An Garda Siochana.”
The Integration Minister admitted that Ireland’s ability to provide asylum seeker accommodation “remains tight,” adding: “Our ability to do that is dependent on our ability to continue to source new accommodation.”
Mr O’Gorman told RTÉ that the government’s accommodation strategy will now involve inviting expressions of interest for the possible purchase of accommodation to accommodate asylum seekers. The Minister said that the State has already had communication from private sector interests seeking to sell accommodation to the State to house asylum seekers.
“We put out an official expression of interest earlier this week, and it is seeking the opportunity to buy accommodation from the private sector via turn-key or maybe institutional buildings that are in need of significant refurbishment. So that has gone out officially this week — but we have had communication from private sector interests looking to sell accommodation.
“And as I’ve always said before, it is better for the State to own international protection accommodation. It gives us much more control over where it’s located, and it gives us much better control over the costs of it as well.”
It came as Taoiseach Simon Harris said the situation on Mount Street had become “completely unacceptable” as the “shantytown” was dismantled this morning and two arrests were made.