Several asylum seekers leave Clare accommodation on foot during ‘blockade’

Several asylum seekers have left the site of accommodation provided for them in Co Clare during a blockage of routes to the site by locals.

Others looked prepared to leave as their luggage was stacked outside the state-provided accommodation.

A group of 34 asylum seekers had been brought to three holiday homes on the site of the disused Magowna House Hotel in Inch on Monday evening.

Shortly after their arrival, access roads to the hotel were blocked by protesters using tractors, with another gate blocked by a silage bale.

On Tuesday morning, around a dozen protesters remained on the blockade, with the tractors swapped for other vehicles in the afternoon.

A small group of locals carrying signs saying “refugees welcome” had gathered across from the protest by the afternoon.

Clare County Council said it had not received formal notification of the arrival of asylum seekers after a meeting where locals expressed their concerns to officials.

Some of the asylum seekers in the hotel expressed fear over the ongoing situation and headed with their belongings towards Ennis, located around an hour and a half away on foot.

They said they would travel from there back to Dublin city, citing both the quality of the accommodation and local opposition to their presence.

Protesters said they would not prevent asylum seekers from leaving, and have allowed food deliveries and some members of the media through.

One of the tractor drivers, who did not want to provide his name, said locals had concerns about fire safety and sewage management on the site.

He also said that the asylum seekers were being moved “underhandedly”.

“So we stopped the roads, we blocked the roads so a second bus could not get in,” he said, as locals had heard a further 35 people were to be accommodated at the site.

He said this would mean there would be “70 people in this locality with nowhere to go” and questioned how the asylum seekers would integrate into the community.

Clare County Council officials and elected members met a large group of locals from the Inch and Kilmaley community for two hours.

The authority said locals had “expressed concerns” about the arrival of asylum seekers, particularly in relation to the building and suitability of the location.

“The council welcomed the engagement from the community and will liaise with agencies to provide the wraparound services such as transport, health, education and immigrant support services,” it said in a statement to the PA news agency.

“We have also committed to keeping local councillors and community members involved in the response,” it added. “At this time we have not received formal notification or details of the arrivals.”

There were tense exchanges outside the centre and by mid-afternoon, seven asylum seekers had left the accommodation over concerns for their safety and dissatisfaction with the accommodation.

Sharif from Algeria told reporters that he was leaving the hotel and heading back to Dublin, but said he would have liked to stay.

“We’re going to Dublin city centre, we’ll live homeless in Dublin city centre,” he said, adding that this was “better than here” because they felt they were “not accepting us here”.

He said that initially there had been 34 men in the three holiday homes, with bunk beds provided for them.

“I want to live here, yes, (it’s) lovely here but (there’s a) problem with people, maybe.”

He said he’d walk to Ennis from the hotel and travel on to Dublin city centre.

“I want to stay here really,” he said, adding that he would not because he did not feel welcome.

Others said they were happy to stay.

Sultan Muhammad, from Afghanistan, said he came to Ireland five months ago and had been staying in Citywest in Dublin.

He described the situation Co Clare as “difficult” but said the accommodation was “OK”.

“We are feeling good here. I like this place.”

He added: “I like it, I will live here.”

Maria Kerin Walsh, an artist from Bellharbour in Co Clare who arrived at the scene on Tuesday, said “everyone is welcome” and “we don’t want to add to any more trauma”.

“All I know is, the most important thing when you come from somewhere awful, is that people show you care and respect,” she said.

“Actually, this is down to respect for the human. What we have heard from people from Ukraine is they are delighted to be in a tiny room because it is a safe room.

“So if we don’t offer safeness and respect and compassion at the very first instance, the rest is immaterial.”

Minister of State for Community Development Joe O’Brien said the hotel did not have a fire safety certificate but there was no issue with fire safety or wastewater management at the holiday homes.

“I just ask people to step down the blockade, I think it is done on the basis of a misunderstanding of what’s happened,” he said.

Mr O’Brien said there is ongoing work at the hotel and people would not be accommodated there until it is safe.

He said there are 500 asylum seekers without accommodation in Ireland and Government was “looking at every possible angle and every possible case”.

On concerns about the isolated location of the holiday homes, Mr O’Brien told RTE’s Today With Claire Byrne that a shuttle bus would be provided to Ennis for asylum seekers who wanted to access services there.

The Fianna Fail TD for Clare, Cathal Crowe, said there has been a lack of information about the accommodation of asylum seekers at the site and suggested that “someone has put the cart before the horse”.

He said that last year, Clare County Council decided Magowna House was unsuitable as accommodation for Ukrainian refugees.

“It wasn’t fit for purpose last night so they’re crammed into ancillary buildings on the site and I just think someone has put the cart before the horse here,” he told RTE’s Morning Ireland.

“I would take the view that if you’re going to bring people to a facility, it should be safe, it should be a sanitary environment.

“It’s questionable if Magowna House is at that level yet.”

Mr Crowe said he hopes to meet the Minister for Equality and Integration, Roderic O’Gorman, on Tuesday afternoon.

He said the protesters are “entitled to their concerns”.

“Look, I don’t personally believe in blockading roads,” he said, but added: “I don’t think the word ‘blockade’… I don’t think it’s exactly that,” as he had been allowed to use the road.

He said he visited the hotel on Monday due to “a lack of information” from the Department of Integration and his office was “being bombarded with emails and phone calls”.

“We did get a briefing note from the Department late on Thursday but there was still a lot of stuff I couldn’t answer,” he said.

“It (the briefing note) related to the mechanics of the situation: that there would be a contract between the Department and the owner, that it would initially be for a 12-month duration, that there would be a manager on site, that meals would be cooked on site and that it would be for men in the international protection system.”