Mayor fears for Ennis ghetto creation

THE Mayor of Ennis, Frankie Neylon has warned that ghettoes could be created in the county capital if “coloured people” are given social housing very close to each other. He was speaking at a meeting of Ennis Town Council, where calls were made to allow councillors an input into the allocation of social housing in the town.
“I know of one place where there were six coloured people allocated houses. I have no problem with this; they are excellent tenants. But I would not like to see a situation like in other counties where people are leaving their houses. That could create a ghetto,” Councillor Neylon commented.

At the meeting of Ennis Town Council, Councillor Neylon urged the council to write to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government asking him to consider giving elected members an input into the allocation of social houses. Councillor Neylon insisted that councillors have “no input whatsoever”, while other councillors also raised their concerns on the matter at the meeting.
According to Councillor Neylon, local councillors may be privy to local information about would-be tenants, which the housing section may not be aware of.
“A very small thing can put a community off balance and a decision made by the housing section without input from elected members may not be what the people living in an area want. I don’t want to allocate housing. I would like to be able, when people are worried, to come and have discussions. When I joined the council we all had an input and if there was a problem there the council could identify, it would be of benefit,” he said.
At the meeting, a number of other councillors spoke about their concerns at how they have no part to play in the allocation of social housing.
Councillor Johnny Flynn spoke about tenants who had “thrashed homes and caused anti-social behaviour” being moved on to other parts of the county.
While Councillor Michael Guilfoyle criticised the HSE for what he described as “throwing a lot of people into rented accommodation in this town. What I have seen in private estates while canvassing frightened the life out of me.”
He argued that while the housing office assesses people before they are allocated housing “how can we vet people who are brought in illegally into this country and our own are suffering”.
“In the times we are living in, people are getting very frustrated. They’re all their lives paying taxes and we can’t allocate houses to our own… The way it was before, when we had an input, we didn’t go too far from the views of the executive. They can only go on what’s on the application, before we could give them information. People have told how they can’t afford houses and then they sublet and we’ve had people coming back to Ennis with criminal records coming back into estates and driving tenants out. It’s not good enough,” he said.
Councillor Tommy Brennan informed the meeting that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government was aware of some of the issues and he has indicated there may be a review of the situation.
Councillor Peter Considine supported the possibility of a return to the previous arrangement where councillors could discuss housing allocation, suggesting a meeting with the housing officer rather than a change in legislation.
Town manager Ger Dollard outlined that the council have an obligation to meet housing needs and that the housing section operates in very “complex and trying circumstances” dealing with “very difficult and personal issues”.
In making a housing decision, the local authority take on board as much information available in making the best decision possible. He added that there are legal reasons as to why personal housing needs can’t be discussed and that is up to the minister to change. He suggested that the councillors sit down with officials for a briefing on how the housing system operates.