Members of the Inch Peaceful Community Protest group have agreed to a mediation process aimed at resolving an impasse over asylum seeker accommodation at Magowna House.
It follows a meeting with Minister for Integration Joe O’Brien last week, during which the Minister reassured locals that no additional international protection applicants will be sent to the Inch facility, if such a process is agreed to.
Locals don’t believe a mediation process between the community and Magowna House residents is necessary, saying there is no dispute between the two groups.
However, they’ve indicated they’re happy to engage further with decision-makers responsible for opening the all-male asylum seeker accommodation in the rural community.
Spokesperson for the Inch Peaceful Community Protest Group, Rory Killeen has been telling Clare FM’s Fiona Cahill that a number of concerns still need to be addressed.
You can listen to the full interview here:
Full statement from Inch Peaceful Community Protest Group:
“We would like to thank Minister O Brien for fulfilling his commitment from four weeks ago by meeting with our group on Thursday last.
We were frustrated and disappointed by some of the Minister’s media comments following our meeting where he suggested that the Women of Inch group & the content of their letter was not represented in the meeting, this is incorrect. We feel that we were very clear in last Thursday’s meeting and in other communications that the Women of Inch are an integral part of the peaceful community protest. We have clarified this misunderstanding with the Minister.
During the meeting, the Minister offered to facilitate mediation between our community group and the men at Magowna House. Having given this offer careful consideration, the consensus in our group is that this is not necessary, there is no dispute between the Inch community & the Magowna House residents. That being said we would be happy to enter into mediation with the decision makers who chose to open this all male facility in rural Inch. To reiterate our concerns;
1) The location of the facility is not fit for purpose – rural location, lack of amenities, transport links to Ennis.(nearest town).
2) The fact that 60+ males are going to be housed in our rural area continues to cause huge stress for our community, the nationality of these men is not important, numbers need to be kept at a lower level and, ideally, accommodation should have a gender mix or focused towards families.
We have provided an update to the Minister on Monday as a follow on from last weeks meeting and we look forward to further engagement.
In the coming days, we intend to reach out to our local public representatives again, both Council & Oireachtas members, to once again to see if they can help us find a common sense solution to resolve the ongoing dispute, we know that some have been working on our behalf in the background & we hope that with renewed focus a breakthrough can be made.”
