Connemara Galway Hotel

Pat McGrath, of RTÉ News, reports:

A tender to provide a direct provision centre at a hotel in Oughterard, Co Galway, has been withdrawn by the applicant.

Speculation that the former Connemara Gateway Hotel was to be repurposed as a centre to house asylum seekers has led to a round-the-clock protest by locals in recent weeks.

Following discussions with protesters, construction workers are entering the site this morning and removing tools from the hotel.

Tender over Oughterard direct provision centre withdrawn (RTÉ)

Previously:  In Galway

Meanwhile…

Kinsale Road Direct Provision Centre in Cork

This morning.

Roos Demol has said that after five years of bringing clothes to people who live in the Kinsale Road Direct Provision Centre in Cork, she’s been told to stop.

Roos, who is originally from Belgium and has been living in Ireland since 1998, is an intercultural facilitator and blogs on immigrantinirelad.com.

She tweetz:

Anyone?

Previously:  Boy From Burundi

“What Has This Guy Been Saying to Other People?”

Sponsored Link

25 thoughts on “Withdrawn

  1. eoin

    “Withdrawn”? You mean displaced. Where will Charlie Flanagan now target for a direct provision centre? A village or town near you? Lucky the locals in Oughterard copped on to what was about to happen before things went too far. Is Charlie now banking on there being less or no resistance at other locations around Ireland?

    Bottom line, if you’re planning on locating large numbers of asylum/international protection seekers in any location, there needs to be some consultation and that should include analysing local facilities, including medical, education, policing.

    1. some old queen

      As a rule- these centers should not be placed in rural locations- there should be a ratio of locals to asylum seekers above which a potential site is disqualified.

      If you apply for planning permissions to build a housing estate or an apartment block- all of these things are taken into consideration- and this should be no different.

        1. some old queen

          Nothing but Dublin and the bog now is it?

          Plenty of urban centers outside Dublin although it would be interesting to know on what basis the successful legal actions taken by the two affluent areas in Dublin was- one rule for the rich etc.

          1. Rob_G

            Oughterard is classified as a town, so not a rural area. It’s also less than 30km from Galway; which maximum distance from Shop Street would you find acceptable?

            There are currently asylum seekers being housed in a hotel in Ballsbridge, so not really sure about this ‘one rule for the rich’ malarkey.

          2. liam

            For rob g

            Clonakilty is a rural town mullingar a rural town athlone a rural town
            Rural means down the country
            What is going on is the fear by government city dwellers will show their racist DNA
            And moving the problem to the country is fly tipping and ensuring these souls do not have the infrastructure like religious places to worship jobs to take
            And then the rural or country bumpkins are the ones that are deemed racist
            You isolate them and ensure they are not walking around so basically its a hidden time bomb which is the most cynical aspect of it all

            These people need help not being put in a position of been hated
            It is not their fault and they deserve respect like the thousands of our economic migrants

          3. some old queen

            @ Rob_G an increase of 300 in a town of 1300 with one GP, no Guard and full schools is what I find unacceptable. I was reading about one guy on twitter shouting racism who claimed they had taken in asylum seekers and when questioned he said they had taken in 30 in a town TWICE that size.

            A bit of common sense by the DOJ wouldn’t go amiss because they are playing right into the far right agenda with this high handed nonsense.

    2. liam

      Maybe the places for direct provision is the cities with infrastructure instead in the middle of nowhere so the problem is hidden like the new magdelain laundries or various Irish institutions of past

      1. Rob_G

        So, ‘put them all in Dublin’ is your brilliant solution.

        Many cities are experiencing housing crises; other places, like Oughterard, have hotels that have lain empty for 10 years. Dublin is already housing plenty of asylum seekers; time for other areas to start pulling their weight.

  2. SB

    By “consultation” do you mean:
    “OK if we do this?”
    “No”
    “Oh…alright then, we won’t”

  3. some old queen

    Of course the usual suspects are out in force on twitter already- one crew shouting racism and the other claiming victory. The problem is that when two zero sums go at it, the truth is usually somewhere in the middle.

    The left, now blaming the media for highlighting the concerns of the local community, done themselves no favours- so here is a ‘news’ flash lads- irrespective of how they were roused, the Oughterard community had valid concerns which were never addressed, especially by people like yourselves.

    The Oughterard spokesman just said on Galway FM that they will continue to campaign for the dismantling of the direct provision system- is that not your objective too? What really bugs me is that both sides seem to think that these local communities are to stupid to think for themselves- which is both condescending and insulting.

    1. GiggidyGoo

      And O Riordan has basically labeled the people of Oughterard as thickos – that they were played by racists.

  4. Cormac Kinsella

    Proper order. The population was way to small for this to be fair. We need to enforce the rules and start shipping out those who don’t make the cut. Like it or not we are full to the brim as it is. Let the virtue signallers open their own micro borders, (their hall doors), and take some in. Lead by example.

  5. Pee Pee

    I live in a city. I don’t get to choose who my neighbours are. Why should they in “rural Ireland.”

        1. Cormac Kinsella

          This is where we have them; they either support DP or are against it. Come on Pee Pee, do you support DP?

          1. Pee Pee

            What do you mean by, “this is where we have them.” Who are them? Are you right wing? I believe refugees are welcome. And we should support them.

          2. Pee Pee

            You know damn well that the protests in Oughterard were not against the concept of Direct Provision. DP is far from perfect, and changes need to be made. I am not so shallow that I fear other cultures living around me. Other cultures should be embraced. That is what life is all about.

          3. Shane Duffy

            What he’s saying, but won’t admit, is that he thinks 250 people should have been crammed into a hotel in a small town. The alt Left have cornered themselves in on this one.

Comments are closed.

Sponsored Link
Broadsheet.ie