Locals are mounting a protest at the site of a proposed migrant centre in Ballinrobe, and say they will block access to the former hotel to prevent the centre opening after it was announced that 50 males would be placed in the small town next week.
A large crowd attended the protest which began at 7pm yesterday and was addressed by locals who said that they were not “going to allow this to happen”, expressing particular concern that the centre was close to a playschool.
Protesters held signs saying “We weren’t asked. We say No” and “Ballinrobe Says No” and expressed anger that they were given two days notice regarding the establishment of the migrant centre. They said that they had previously been told that the Ukrainian families would be moved in, and raised a series of concerns regarding services and safety issues for the town.
6 minute clip from the protest in Ballinrobe Mayo tonight, large crowd!
Link to full stream in the comments below 👍#IrelandisFull pic.twitter.com/2Y7vgGhDm5
— Squiddy (@squiddy3) January 5, 2024
Cllr Michael Burke had informed constituents of the development on his Facebook page on Friday afternoon saying that he and his fellow public representatives were informed Thursday afternoon by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and youth that they would be commencing use of the former JJ Gannon’s Hotel on Main Street Ballinrobe.
“From next Monday January 8th there will be up to 50 male international protection applicants accommodated on the property. This is the first contact I have had confirming this development. The three local councillors including myself met with some community groups last night to inform them of the information we had received,” he said, adding that the Gannon family who had previously owned the building have no involvement in this property.
Local business woman Michelle Smith told the protest that people would not come into the town of Ballinrobe any more if “they can’t walk the street’ because of concerns regarding 50 men who were placed in the former hotel. “We will not back down,” she told the crowd. “We will absolutely not back down.”
Ms Smith told Mayo News: “The whole humanitarian thing was meant to be about helping families flee troubles from Ukraine. We are not getting that. We are getting 50 males that we know absolutely nothing about and my daughter will not walk down here during the day or at night time until this is put a stop to.”
“The community spirit here has been fantastic, but at the end of the day, this on the Main Street of Ballinrobe, there is a play school two doors down, we have kids going to school here and the businesses here need to be protected, because these foreign nationals will come in with 38 euro a week. What are they going to do and where are they going to go? They have no facilities here for them,” she added.
“The demonstrators, who erected a gazebo at the front of the hotel and lit an outdoor fire for heat, received soup and sweets during Friday evening and Saturday morning,” the paper reported.
Carla O’Connor from Ballinrobe told Gript that the protest organisers were “overwhelmed” with the support in the town and that 800 signatures had been gathered on a petition opposing the accommodation centre within two hours.
“This centre is two doors down from a créche, its completely unsuitable. People are worried that we will have 50 men – sharing 12 bedrooms – loitering around the town all day. Women are saying that they don’t feel safe and that the town won’t feel safe, because we don’t know who these people are,” she said.
“The whole immigration system is a mess, its out of control, its like a horse that’s bolted,” she said. “There’s no discussion about the possible clash of cultures and what that means for local communities.”
Local Councillors, Damien Ryan of Fianna Fáil, Patsy O’Brien Independent, and Michael Burke of Fine Gael addressed the protest and said that the policy regarding asylum centres was being decided at national level and that they shared many of the concerns of the locals.
I am here to listen .. and I am here in solidarity with you,” Cllr Damien Ryan said, also telling the crowd that he tried to get the County Council to adopt a strategy on the issue for the county.
He said that the time-frame and the lead-in regarding the use of accommodation centres was designed to frustrate local councillors and deny them the opportunity to communicate the government’s intentions to the public.
“National policy is what’s dictating what’s going on at local level. I certainly have concerns and reservations. I think the public at large embrace a level of acceptance with genuine refugees. I think what has infuriated the public here is 50 males going into a building with no collaboration, no communication, and no lead-in,” he said.
“I’m here to stand with you all weekend,” Cllr Ryan said. “I think there is strength in numbers.”
With Ballinrobe trending on X, over a thousand people joined a Facebook page opposing the centre. One woman commented that: “Ballinrobe is a small commuter town with one major employer and mostly farming area. No resources in the town besides a tiny library, a pitch and a playground. Nothing there for residents never mind 50 men living in 12 rooms.”
However, others said that the town should be willing to house those fleeing war, and two men who approached the protest later in the evening also said that asylum seekers needed to be housed.
Mayo News noted that: “In 2022, a total of 1,289 living in the Ballinrobe town area were of an ethnicity other than ‘White Irish’ – some 41 percent of the population.”
After the protest, Cllr Burke posted that: “Further to my earlier statement, I want to state that I released it as an information to the public. Given the unbelievable short notice from the department I wanted to give local people a chance to be heard regardless of their views. I felt people couldn’t do anything about it after the people had moved in. We we’re not consulted in any way as a town either by the department or the property owners.”
O’Connor is currently registered as a director of the Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce, and has 23 current directorships, including Sunnyhill Explored which has an address at 3 Patrick’s Street, Kilkenny. Banandel has an address in Kilkenny, but is also registered at an address in Ferns, County Wexford.
Kate O’Brien is the registered director of Banandel and company secretary Paul Minogue is also currently secretary or director of several other companies including Specialised Accommodation Services which shares an address with Banandel, and Cloverhill Holdings and Cloverhill Healthcare whose addresses are a nursing home at Shinrone and another at Athy.