CLARE TD Cathal Crowe has made an official complaint to the Ceann Comhairle, alleging the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth failed to provide him with information about the provision of a new emergency accommodation facility in Shannon.
He appeared on RTE current affairs show Drive Time last week and said that only while on the show he found out that the Department had provided a reporter with information that Deputy Crowe himself had sought, but been refused.
“I was flabbergasted because there was information on the airwaves that I wasn’t aware of, and when I tried to get information via the most official route of all, a Parliamentary Question, I was told it was commercially sensitive and they couldn’t tell me.”
He said he has been left completely in the dark about the details of plans to place refugees in the Shannon Free Zone.
“It’s been a week since I lodged it to the office of the Ceann Comhairle, he has referred it back to the Minister for a response.
“I’m none the wiser. I’ve told the people of Shannon as much as I have to hand. I honestly haven’t seen a scenario like this where something is unfolding and there’s no information provided in relation to it.
“People in Shannon find it very hard to believe that their public representatives are in the dark on this, but that is absolutely the case and it’s for that reason I made a formal complaint to the Ceann Comhairle.”
Deputy Crowe said that the far right are already exploiting the local uncertainty about the provision of the emergency accommodation facility.
“I’ve received maybe three dozen emails into my office from people. Some of them are very grounded, legitimate emails, but I’ve also had a couple of people from outside the county sending pretty nasty, racial stuff.
“When a conscious decision to withhold information is taken, you always run the risk that inaccurate information will fill the void and that is what has happened. It has been exploited by certain far right political elements, both in Clare and beyond Clare, and I think that is wrong.”
The Fianna Fáil TD said the Department may be trying to avoid a repeat of the recent protests in Dublin, but they have gone the wrong way about it.
“I’m guessing some of the withholding of information is reacting to what happened at the East Wall in Dublin and in Finglas. But I think that is the wrong way to deal with the public.
“The people I’m talking to in Shannon are very reasonable people. If you’re a school principal in Shannon you need to know something about who’s coming, when are they coming and how many do I need to provide for in terms of classroom space.
“None of that dialogue has happened and it should be able to happen, because it happened so effectively in the first weeks of March and April, when every State body was trying to co-ordinate the response to the Ukrainian crisis.”
He said that he has told Minister Roderic O’Gorman that his officials need to come to Clare and deal with local service providers.
“If they were on the ground, more engaging with Clare County Council, centres of education and the local health service, I think they’d have a better grasp on things and I think there’d be better co-ordination of the response. I think it’s entirely inadequate at the moment.”
Meanwhile independent TD Violet Anne Wynne has written to Minister O’Gorman stating that since the Clare Champion revealed the plans for use of a building in the Shannon Free Zone, there has been serious concern in the town.
“The vacuum that has been created by the lack of information or consultation by your Department with community groups and stakeholders has sent shock waves through the community of Shannon.
Several individuals have been in touch with my office, and they have raised some very legitimate concerns.
“This proposed emergency accommodation will not be at the residential side of town, but in a highly industrialised area which will not be equipped with the necessary services for the residents of the accommodation to have an adequate standard of living.
“Many of the local residents have conveyed concerns to me regarding whether your Department has consulted with local services like Shannon Health Centre and the local schools in the area to ensure that they will be adequately equipped to deal with this extra capacity.”
She said that while Clare has welcomed 4,000 refugees “with open arms” the Department’s approach is now giving the far right an opportunity.
“As a direct result of your Department’s lack of support on the ground a vacuum has been created that has allowed for unsavoury far-right sentiment to hijack the conversation around the country.”
Deputy Wynne requested that Minister O’Gorman come to Shannon and that the Department start consulting with the people of the town, something she said is required to head off those far right elements.
“Minister, I am calling on you to come down to Shannon personally and allay the concerns of local residents. If your Department does not engage with local residents, community groups and local representatives then that vacuum will be occupied by the same shameless, opportunistic, far-right elements that are now seeking to distort the lens on this important national conversation.”
Her fellow independent Michael McNamara said that while Shannon has a long history of welcoming refugees, in the past there was always consultation with the public.
“Shannon has a proud and lengthy tradition of welcoming refugees down through the years,” he said.
“On each of those occasions however, proper planning and public consultation was conducted by the authorities which ensured the wholesome support of local people.”
He said it is quite legitimate for local people to have concerns about housing people in an industrial estate when local services are already stretched.
“There is a significant strain on existing services in the town, particularly GP services, yet no information has been forthcoming on the reported retrofitting of a large building in the country’s largest industrial estate to accommodate new arrivals.
“It is perfectly reasonable for the people of Shannon to seek information about the move and to receive assurances that additional resources will be deployed to the town to accommodate any increase in the local population and the consequent increased demand for services.”
“Minister O’Gorman needs to engage with local elected and community representatives as a matter of urgency.
“We have seen in Lisdoonvarna how there has been little if any increase in local services to the detriment of both residents and refugees. Therefore, early engagement needs to happen before the building is occupied.”
“Both the occupants of the new accommodation centre and the people of Shannon will benefit from such consultation before the proposed accommodation centre is occupied. Otherwise, there is a risk of misinformation filling the void which benefits no one,” he concluded.
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.