Vehicles seeking to enter the site of a proposed asylum centre in Lissywollen in Athlone, which would hold 1,000 males, were turned back last night as locals continue to protest against plans to create a huge asylum accommodation base in the town.
One of the protesters, Geraldine Stokes, said that locals believed that work on the site should have been halted by the authorities after the local County Council voted to seek an injunction against the building of the asylum centre. She said the vans and lorries which were being blocked from entering by protesters were carrying materials to develop the site.
She said they believed that “there should be no work going on the site because the County Council are taking a case to get an injunction to stop the centre – which is not sustainable – from going ahead,” she said. “IPAS are clearly are trying to rush things through to bring people in to the site and then say it’s done.”
She said that she understood that while legally an injunction had to be obtained to stop the development work, the vote of the County Council and the widespread opposition to the proposed centre, should be respected by the Minister and by IPAS.
She said that the local people had the right to make their voices heard, and that IPAS were “bullying the people” to “push this through”.
The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth said last month that it planned to “develop a new international protection accommodation centre at Lissywollen, Athlone. The planned development of the Midland Accommodation Centre at this State-owned site will be supported by an extensive programme of local engagement.”
“The site being developed at Lissywollen will provide tented and modular accommodation for international protection applicants,” they said.
“Work to enable provision of accommodation at this site will commence soon and the first residents will be accommodated about 5 weeks after works commence.”
“Accommodation will be provided in phases, starting with approximately 100 residents, and over several phases, increasing to up to 1000 residents.”
In relation to the protests, Ms Stokes said that: “It seems that the gardaí have been told that we are slowing things down, and have been told to try to push us aside, but last night there was such a crowd, the vans had to turn away.”
She queried why the Public Order Unit was being ordered to attend a peaceful protest. She said she felt that videos which showed women being pushed out of the way by Gardaí had brought more people to the protest.
“The hub is so huge, it’s scary to be honest, people are nervous about a thousand strangers or more arriving in our midst,” she said. “How many of these are people who arrived without passports, who are unvetted? We’re told nothing, just expected to shut up and put up, despite our concerns. It’s very upsetting. People really feel intimidated.”
An Garda Síochana told Gript that: “Gardaí have policed a number of public gatherings in recent days in Athlone, Co. Westmeath. No arrests have been made.”
“There is a constitutional right to the freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, subject to statutory provisions. An Garda Síochána respects the right of citizens to exercise their constitutional rights and to carry out peaceful protest.”
On Sunday, the Athlone Stands Together group protested the Fine Gael office in Athlone town saying that the needs of Irish people were not being met even as the site Lissywoolen was being developed.
“Over 4,000 children in Ireland homeless,” they said. “The figures are terrifying that this is happening. From the start and all throughout we are keeping our protests peaceful we will continue to do it that way.”
Last month, Westmeath County Councillors elected to Athlone Moate Municipal Council passed a motion calling for a halt to construction of an IPAS accommodation centre at Lissywollen.
Independent Ireland Councillor Paul Hogan, who is to contest the Longford/Westmeath constituency in the forthcoming elections, proposed a motion on planning grounds that was passed unanimously by the Council.
Councillor Hogan told Gript that he had looked at the relevant planning legislation and he claims that the Ministerial approval for the IPAS Centre under Section 181 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 does not apply to a function reserved to local authorities for the construction of temporary dwellings. That reserved function is outlined in the Local Government Reform Act of 2014.
The motion that was proposed by Councillor Hogan states that the Council was making an order “prohibiting the erection of temporary dwellings as it is our view that their erection is prejudicial to the amenities of the locality and interferes unreasonably with that area.”
In the meantime, Councillor Hogan and other local representatives are of the opinion that work on the site should not proceed. It was explicitly outlined that the order made by the Council “applies to specified land under which construction is currently taking place.”
Today, Cllr Hogan who said he had been in contact with the protest yesterday, told Gript that Councillors were of the opinion that the work on the site should have stopped after the Council had asked Department of Integration to cease works until such time legal clarity was provided.