A Westmeath County Councillor says that powers granted to county councils confirmed in 2014 legislation permits them to prohibit temporary dwellings, and that this reserved power can be used to halt a proposed asylum centre with tents and modular homes in which the Department of Integration plans to use to house up to 1,000 males claiming asylum.
Gript met with Westmeath County Councillor Paul Hogan who updated us on the situation regarding the proposed new IPAS accommodation centre at Lissywollen outside Athlone. We also met with members of the traveller community whose homes are adjacent to an existing centre and will now be close to the new centre.
Councillor Hogan, as we reported during the week, proposed the motion that was unanimously accepted by all of the members of the Athlone Moate municipal council and which he expects will receive the full backing of the full council on Monday evening.
He set out the grounds for the objection which is based on the existing power of local authorities as outlined in the Local Government Reform Act 2014 regarding the construction of temporary dwellings. That reserved function is outlined in the Local Government Reform Act of 2014.
Councillor Hogan and the municipal council believe that this allows the local authority to supersede the power claimed by Minister Roderick O’Gorman in his ministerial order Section 181 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 which the Minister claims gives the state the authority to proceed with the proposed IPAS accommodation centre.
The government amended the Planning Act so that the need to obtain planning permission does not apply for asylum accommodation.
This is the first time that any local authority has challenged the state in regard to asylum accommodation on planning grounds.
While Councillor Hogan and other members of the council are unhappy that work on the site has continued in the meantime, they are confident that their objection on planning grounds is solidly based in the legislation and will be demanding that the Minister addresses the issues raised.
We also spoke with Geraldine Stokes and other members of the local traveller community who outlined their concerns. Geraldine stressed that there have been no issues with the people who have been resident for the past two decades in the existing accommodation centre.
However, they are unhappy with the latest move – begun with no consultation or even prior notice – to begin work on what is being touted as a massive hub, accommodating over 1,000 and perhaps much more than that number in tents and portocabins as part of the state’s plan to imbed the acceptance and accommodation of tens of thousands of applicants for asylum on an ongoing basis.
A protest is to take place this afternoon at Lissywollen.
The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) that “an agreement has been reached between the OPW and DCEDIY for use of a portion of the site at Lissywollen, Athlone. The site being developed at Lissywollen is approximately eleven acres.”
In regard to planning, they said that
“ The site is being developed to provide tented and modular accommodation for international protection applicants,” DCEDIY said, adding that “the accommodation will be for single adult males who are seeking international protection.
The DCEDIY document, in answering “ What is the planning process?, says “the development is being progressed by Ministerial Order (MO) as notified to Westmeath County Council on 7 October 2024. This process is being used as the State responds to extreme challenges in terms of accommodation for people seeking protection in Ireland.”
DCEDIY say they have “contracted Trailhead Unlimited to manage the site.” and that “Trailhead has expertise in providing facilities management services and they have worked with the Department in the past to provide accommodation for people who have fled the war in Ukraine.”
However, as we have pointed out on this platform, Trailhead was only officially registered with the Companies Registration Office (CRO) on September 25.