€669,000 in funding announced for refugees coming to Offaly

ADDITIONAL funding of €669,000 for refugees coming to Offaly was announced during the February meeting of Birr Municipal District on Monday afternoon.
Director of Services Ann Dillon told the councillors that a new €50 million nationwide fund for capital projects for the refugees has been introduced and €669,000 of this will go into capital projects in Offaly.
Ms Dillon said the money will go towards Tullamore, Portarlington, Birr, Moneygall, Shannonbridge, Clara, Dunkerrin and Banagher because all these towns and villages currently have refugees living in them. She said the funding will also be directed to Kilcormac because 58 Ukrainian refugees are being moved to the former convent building there.
The Director added that 60% of this funding will be spent this year. The capital projects will include the construction of walkways, sporting facilities, school enhancements, enhancements of parish facilities, the purchasing of equipment for sporting events, and so on. She pointed out that these new facilities will not only benefit refugees but also locals.
She said Offaly's Community Response Forum will be liaising with the Local Community Development Committee to oversee the rollout of these projects.
The Community Response Forum was formed during the Covid Pandemic as a multi-agency forum bringing together representatives of both Statutory and Voluntary agencies operating across Offaly, with the aim of ensuring commitment and consistency in terms of services delivery.
After Covid the Forum was re-established as part of the county's response to assist the people of Ukraine, and is meeting regularly.
Ms Dillon said the Forum meets every fortnight. “The Forum has been meeting every fortnight for the last year,” she remarked, “and each meeting is devoted to the refugees from Ukraine. This new funding means that it will be possible for local communities to come up with project ideas and liaise with LCDC.”
Cllr John Leahy welcomed the funding. “These refugees are fleeing a terrible situation, a situation not of their own making, and it behoves us to be compassionate and extend the hand of friendship to them. Unfortunately, too often on social media we are seeing the opposite response, a response that is ill-informed and wrongheaded. Day after day there are a lot of wrong opinions being posted on Facebook; there's a lot of misinformation being disseminated through social media.” He appealed to people to be more discerning in their responses to misinformation like this.
Since Thursday there have been claims that the former Convent of Mercy on the Main Street of Kilcormac was being prepared for occupation by between 50 and 150 men. A video widely shared on social media on Thursday and Friday which referred to single males from one named country in Africa and “other s...hole countries”. Locals were appalled and outraged at the language used in this video. Cllr Leahy said this video and similar commentary does not represent the vast majority of people in Kilcormac.
On Friday evening an estimated 30 people stood outside the convent, some carrying Offaly flags, to register their opposition to the accommodation centre. As many as 50 people gathered on the other side of the street.
The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth this week said the former convent will be used to accommodate Ukrainian families, not single men from a number of different African countries as had been claimed.
Cllr Leahy told Monday's Birr MD meeting that the claim that single men from a number of different African countries were coming to the convent was “a barefaced lie.” He praised the local media, including the Midland and Tullamore Tribune, for presenting a balanced and fair coverage of the story.
Cllr John Clendennen agreed. He said the Ukrainian refugees are arriving in Ireland, having fled a nightmarish situation, with often just the clothes they are wearing, after losing everything back home. “The vast majority of Irish people are compassionate, caring, understanding and they can see through the barefaced lie that was being put out there in Kilcormac last week. I want to say well done to all the towns and villages in Offaly which have stood up to the plate and have welcomed the refugees with open arms.”
Cllr John Carroll, Cathaoirleach, agreed. He pointed out that when refugees arrive in Offaly they have a number of needs, including education, recreation and leisure facilities.
The councillors pointed out that it's not true that the services being offered to refugees are being denied to locals. They added that it would be a good idea for the Council to liaise more with local communities prior to the arrival of refugees in their areas.