Wicklow county councillors have voted to write to the Department of Integration Equality and Children to stop the plans for up to 950 Ukrainains to be housed in what has been described as a bog in Annamoe, Co. Wicklow.
The matter was raised by FG Cllr. Shay Cullen following a public meeting held recently with local residents and Pastures New Limited.
“Annamoe is a small, little – I would have called hamlet – with a population of about a hundred people. And to say this is one of the most shocking decisions ever made in terms of County Wicklow is an understatement,” he said.
“To bring 950 people into an area, a rural area – a rural farm, actually, is what this is, a very rural farm, without any consultation, without any engagement with either the County Council, the Council representatives, or communities; there is absolutely no facilities in this rural location, no sewerage, no mains water on this site, no broadband. As was said by one of my colleagues recently, if you could pick a more rural area in County Wicklow, I don’t think you could pick one.”
Cllr. Cullen expressed his frustration and dismay felt by the local community:
“It has left the community of Roundwood, Annamoe and Laragh in 32 total shock and dismay, into the scale and numbers that we’re talking about. I’ll give an example here. If you walk outside the gate of this particular farm, if you 1 turn left to go to Roundwood, you don’t have a footpath. If you turn right to go to Laragh, you don’t have a footpath. We’re talking about bringing 950 people into an utterly rural area, with absolutely no facilities, and I can’t underestimate what I am saying in terms of that.” he said.
At the recent local meeting, many locals had expressed concerns that talk of a 32 week contract was unrealistic, those thoughts were echoed by Cllr. Cullen in the chamber:
“They’re talking about a 32-week contract and they’re talking about this is a temporary rest area. But the reality is, where do these people go after 32 weeks?” he asked.
“Sorry, the 32-week contract is one thing, but they are talking about this being a rest area where families and individuals will be there for two to three weeks, and my question is, very clearly: Where will these people leave to go to? Because this country at the moment has no accommodation available right across the country.”
Cllr. Cullens concerns were echoed by other Councillors in the chamber with Independent Councillor John Snell adding:
“The Department decided that they want to house vulnerable people, women and children and elderly, in a bog. They call it the flat bog. The field is a plain bog field in Annamoe. So they’re going to be housed in a marquee with individual pods within the marquee,” he said.
“950 people in a village that has a little over a hundred people of population. This is crazy, what’s going on here?” he asked.
Cllr. Snell said that exception had been taken when it “the monetary gain for Pastures New, this limited company” had been pointed out.
“The monetary gain that the likes of the Grand Hotel have; over €8 million per annum. We have facilities in Ashford that get €315,000 per month. Kippure in West Wicklow the same. We have a hotel that has been purchased in Aughrimm,” he said.
“And believe me, members of South Wicklow, you will be back here bringing up the same issues, because that has been bought by one of the directors of Pastures New. They’re going around purchasing them. When we asked the question at the meeting are they in talks with other landowners, other facilities in County Wicklow, they are. They’re in talks with themselves, because they are going around buying up land and the likes of this.”
Cllr. Snell raised issue with the silence from some people in the chamber in relation to the plan.
“An interesting fact that came out of that is that all of these people will vote in the local election next year. All of these people are entitled to vote in the local elections next year. All 100,000 people that’s come into this State will vote in the local elections next year, I wonder is that why some people are afraid to speak out? Well, I’d be damn sure I would rather stand with the community of Annamoe of a hundred people and forget about the votes, because the reality is they have been there for generations and what we are doing is we are unhinging the very fabric that made us a great country,” he said.
Independent Cllr. Mary Kavanagh queried the long term plan for the people that would be living on the site:
“The position is that they are going to have to look for accommodation when they get here and they’re going to have to be given six to eight weeks to find it and then move on. And I raised the question, as Councillor Cullen also referred to, what happens when the six to eight weeks have passed in this country with a housing crisis and they don’t have anywhere to go? Are you going to put them out? And he (Pastures New Limited) couldn’t answer that,” she said.
Cllr Kavanagh also raised concerns about the facilities and the fact that the land was for all intents and purposes bogland.
“I spoke to a lot of people afterwards. One lady said this is what is known as the bog meadow. Can you imagine after a 25 few days of rain the place would be like a quagmire. It would be like a mud bath they’re expecting people to live there for two years or more”
Independent Councillor Gerry O’Neill also raised concerns about the issue and described the situation as scandalous
“It is well-known that the same business people who are in the west are using that site as well. And it is right throughout the county. And I think every law – every rule in the book has been broken here. It is scandalous to see the amount of money that one group — and then I’m censored by this free state media of disclosing the exact figures. You or I cannot. We are bound by the laws of this, I don’t know what sort of state we’re living in. But I do know for a fact that one group within Wicklow here housing 233 refugees collects €618,000 a month. I know of another house in the area, a four-bed house with 34 people living in it. What is going on is absolutely rotten to the core.”
Fianna Fáil Councillor Gail Dunne was last to speak on the issue saying:
“For anybody thinking that this is going to be a quick fix you can forget about that. We were told the Grand Hotel, a number of years, was for 12 months and I think that was four years ago, three years ago. This is not a quick fix.”
“This is here unfortunately to the end. And this is not about people caring about other people. This is — for the people who are doing this, it’s all about money. And lots of it. And there’s lots of money being involved in this. I think people should be given proper accommodation and properly looked after. But at the moment I think the Government has lost control of the situation. We have open borders and people can come in if they want. And we have to put them up somewhere.”
“And we are just full. We are full. And it is terrible. We would like to give people proper accommodation if they really, really need it. And a lot of Ukrainians do. Don’t get me wrong. But we have lost control.”
21 councillors voted on the motion with 15 in favour, Labour Councillors Cllr Paul O Brien Labour, Cllr Anne Ferris Labour, abstained three voted against (Cllr Erika Doyle Greens, Cllr Lourda Scott Green, Cllr Rory O’Connor Ind).