Packed meeting says 'No' to using former nursing home near Offaly border for asylum seekers

A PACKED Rathcabbin meeting in the village's hall sent out a resounding 'No' on Monday evening to the government's proposal to move 30 to 40 IPAS (International Protection Accommodation Services) asylum seekers to the empty premises which was formerly St Kieran's Nursing Home, located near the village.

William Rigney welcomed everyone to the meeting. He said it was great to see such a big attendance of people. He welcomed the TDs, Councillors and prospective Councillors.

“I have agreed to be the mediator for the meeting,” he remarked. “It is a one agenda meeting, namely to discuss the proposed Refugee Centre at the former St Kieran's Nursing Home at the Pike, Rathcabbin.” He said no one would be allowed to speak for more than three minutes and he asked everyone to keep their comments to the matter in question, relatively temperate and not to become politicised or overheated.

William pointed out that 20 years ago the local community stood up against the dump just outside the village, called Shannon Vermicomposting. It was time to take a stand again. “20 years ago the people of the area had to act. They blocked the roads. Their actions worked and the illegal dump was closed down. If they hadn't acted then the problem would never have been resolved. It was a great example of people power.”

The mediator said they had sent an email to Minister Roderic O'Gorman, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, expressing the local community's objection to St Kieran's being possibly used as a Refugee Centre, pointing out that it is isolated, is beside a dangerous road junction, there are no footpaths and no road lights. The email pointed out that the services are not present in the area to cope with an influx of 30 to 40 refugees. For example the area's local medical dispensary has been closed for a number of years. The village's only shop has also closed down.

The owner of St Kieran's, William O'Sullivan, recently sent an email to a concerned member of the community living near the former nursing home, in which Mr O'Sullivan said he had wanted to keep it open as a nursing home but had to close it because of financial considerations, a fate befalling many nursing homes across the country. Mr O'Sullivan added that he had tried, unsuccessfully, to sell the property; and was now leasing it. He pointed out that it will not revert to being a nursing home again, due to the huge running costs of keeping in line with HIQA guidelines. He said one option would be for the community to buy the property.

William Rigney pointed out that the owner and the leasee had been invited to the public meeting but neither had turned up. “We sent an email to Joe Crofton, the leasee. Joe replied that in his opinion there has been a lot of misinformation and scaremongering regarding this matter. Joe says the asylum seekers will probably be couples with children and single mothers with children. He said they will be vetted by the governmental department. He says they will provide a daily minibus for the asylum seekers from St Kieran's to the local towns for essential services. There will be a small playground in St Kieran's, as well as vegetable patches and horseriding. The staff will be well trained and will be looking after St Kieran's 24/7, with a manager overseeing them.”

A member of the audience said St Kieran's is unsuitable for IPAS asylum seekers because it is too remote.

A man living near St Kieran's said he was told on April 19 that Ukrainian mothers and children, some with disabilities, would be coming to the premises, “something similar to Elmgrove in Birr. We had no problem with that. Then a few days later we were told it wouldn't be Ukrainians but IPAS people coming to the premises, which concerned us because IPAS often means single men from anywhere in the world, with question marks over whether they have been properly vetted or not. We were told the IPAS people would be only women and children and no single men. We were told it would be great for the area. I asked him if he would put IPAS people in his own parish, near his house? He gave no answer. Then, a couple of days later, we were told men would be coming as well. When it was a nursing home its capacity was 23 people. Now they are proposing to put more people there than it can cope with."

One attendee said people are looking for hard information, “but we can't get it. We want the truth. Unfortunately in Ireland a lot of things are being sanitised nowadays and we are not being given the truth. Our village is in fact going backwards. Our only shop has been closed.”

Deputy Jackie Cahill told the meeting that the huge crowd present “demonstrates your huge concern. A lot of you have contacted me about this. Minister O'Gorman has told me that St Kieran's has still to be inspected and deemed suitable or not; therefore it mighn't happen. If it does happen it could be several months yet. I believe St Kieran's is completely unsuitable, because the services are just not there in the area for an influx of 30 to 40 IPAS asylum seekers. I have conveyed this opinion to the Minister. I backed the government's decision to accommodate asylum seekers in Racket Hall Roscrea because there were adequate services in the area. Rathcabbin is different. There aren't adequate services here. A minibus to Birr or Borrisokane doesn't cut it for me.”

Deputy Michael Lowry pointed out that the large number of people present in Rathcabbin Hall “gives an indication of the level of concern, fear and anxiety about this. It also shows the strong sense of community spirit which exists here.” He said it's very difficult to get hard facts from the Department of Children and “they often don't communicate their decisions or plans with TDs. The first I heard of this was when Cllr O'Meara contacted me. When I checked it out a senior Department official told me that there was an IPAS application from St Kieran's before the Department.”

Deputy Lowry said he believed Roscrea had done more than its share in terms of accommodating refugees and Racket Hall should never have been made a refugee centre. He said he would be calling on the government to not make a similar mistake in Rathcabbin; he would be calling on them to “engage with the local community in an open and honest manner instead of in a secretive manner which increases suspicion and fear.” He said some protests are unfortunately hijacked by vested interests. He stressed that there is no sign of that happening in Rathcabbin. “There's still a possibility they will not go ahead with this proposal. It could be another four months before they announce their decision, whether to proceed or not.”

Cllrs Joe Hannigan, Michael O'Meara, Ger Darcy and Seamus Morris also addressed the meeting. Cllr Seamus Morris said he believes the government is obsessed with the bad optics of asylum seeker tents on the Grand Canal in Dublin appearing on the Six One News on RTE, and wants to get rid of them by moving them out into rural Ireland. “I wouldn't trust the government on this.”

He said he doesn't agree with Deputy Cahill's opinion on Racket Hall. “It was the only hotel in Roscrea and it should never have been taken away.”

He said councillors are often the last people to be told what is going to happen. He said IPAS is like a runaway train and has been given too much power.

Local election candidate Ryan O'Meara said it is right to help genuine asylum seekers but local concerns and local communities also have to be taken into consideration.

Cllr Michael O'Meara said he has been a councillor for the last 20 years and this was one of the biggest issues he has come across in that time. “It is being treated by the local community with the same seriousness that they treated the illegal dump here. I was shocked to hear IPAS asylum seekers might be coming here, with serious question marks over the vetting system. We set up a taskforce to tackle Covid. We need to set up a taskforce in Ireland to deal with the immigration issue. I want to strongly stress that this is not a racist issue. No one here this evening is a racist. We are people with genuine concerns. IPAS works OK in large towns and cities, not in an isolated former nursing home in a rural area, an area with no shop, no facilities.”
Cllr Joe Hannigan also said he doesn't trust IPAS. “There are only single rooms in St Kieran's. The premises is not suitable for families. I therefore can't see anybody but single people coming there.”

One attendee criticised the government for being very secretive in its approach. Another attendee said the protesters in Roscrea were asked, “Do you realise the consequences of refusing to accommodate these people?” due to the fact Ireland has signed international agreements promising to take in asylum seekers.

Deputy Jackie Cahill pointed out that Holland won't take asylum seekers from 36 countries, whereas Ireland won't take asylum seekers from eight countries. “There are people coming here who are not fleeing war or oppression, and they shouldn't be here,” the Deputy said. “The number of asylum seekers coming into the country since the beginning of January has increased dramatically. Dealing with the issue of migrants coming here via Northern Ireland will also be very difficult to solve.

“Why is the government not listening to our concerns,” asked another attendee, “we who are the taxpayers?”
“The government has enough money to accommodate refugees,” commented another, “but no money to keep Nursing Homes like St Kieran's open.”
It was decided to set up a committee to continue dealing with the issue. The meeting then concluded.