Fine Gael colleagues in blazing row over housing of Ukrainians in Limerick town

A BLAZING row has broken out between two Fine Gael colleagues over the housing of Ukrainians in a Limerick town.

Former mayor of Limerick Cllr Stephen Keary has launched an attack on his local election running mate Cllr Adam Teskey describing his comments on the accommodation of those fleeing war as “outrageous and obscene”.

Councillor Teskey had previously opposed the accommodation of Ukrainian refugees in the former Bank of Ireland in Askeaton, prior to it becoming a community enterprise hub.

Instead, he said they could be accommodated in vacant homes which are lying idle across Limerick, a move which put him at odds with Cllr Keary, who proposed the resolution that refugees stay in the centre of Askeaton for two years.

Plan to house Ukrainians in former bank in Limerick town criticised

Cllr Keary, the leader of the Adare-Rathkeale district, where Askeaton is located, released a statement to the Leader condemning Cllr Teskey.

“To be honest, I find it shocking and quite upsetting especially coming from a Fine Gael party colleague. It is government policy to provide temporary accommodation for Ukrainians throughout the country. They are being housed in all sorts of premises and here we have a ready-made solution which will provide much needed shelter and comfort,” he said.

He also described Cllr Teskey’s comments as “an insult to both Ukrainians and also their host families who have opened their doors to them over the last year.”

The pair openly clashed this month’s Adare-Rathkeale meeting, with Cllr Teskey branding his party colleague a “dictator” after he was not allowed to address members of an action group from Kilteery.

Cllr Keary urged him to withdraw the remark, and suggested if he didn’t like the way he was chairing the meeting, he should leave.

Reacting to Cllr Keary’s statement, Cllr Teskey said he is “appalled” by its contents, and also slammed his actions at the meeting.

“It is not normal for a party colleague, a chairman of the day, to ask a sitting councillor who got the largest mandate in the last election to leave the meeting because he didn’t allow me to welcome a deputation which included a former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and a former Oireachtas member,” he said, referring to the ex-Limerick West TD Michael Finucane.

“He told me if I was not happy at the way he was doing the meeting, I should leave. Isn’t that the whole essence of a dictator,” asked Cllr Teskey.

As it stands, the former Bank of Ireland branch in Askeaton will be used to house Ukrainian refugees for two years, before it reverts to a community enterprise hub.

A feasibility study for this project is under way, after Cllr Keary’s resolution was carried, with only Cllr Teskey speaking out against.

Councillor Keary said: “As a nation, we have been welcomed across the world for years and continue to be. When I was mayor, I witnessed first-hand the result of emigration when I met generations of Irish people living in America and England whose fathers had fled here for safety and a better life. We now have to extend this same kindness to people of Ukraine.”