A new secret memo has detailed plans to hugely expand a new asylum-processing centre outside of Dublin as the Irish government struggles to manage the arrival of asylum seekers into the city.
The coalition will now seek to house hundreds of migrants in centres in Kerry and Westmeath, with intentions to develop the existing Thornton Hall site in Dublin, according to plans seen by the Irish Independent.
Amid growing concerns about the appearance of encampments across the city, the government has reportedly greenlit plans to set up a new International Protection Office (IPO), responsible for examining and processing applications for international protection, outside of the capital.
It comes as Gardai today began another operation to remove an asylum seeker camp in Dublin, dismantling tents along the Grand Canal and telling the occupants to move along, before ushering them onto coaches to be transferred onto other sites.
Migrant arrivals in the city have been met with a tragic spate of violence, with one planned centre for housing asylum seekers victim to a suspected firebomb attack last week and refugees in tent encampments ‘run out by locals’ earlier this month.
Ireland and the UK have been embroiled in a diplomatic spat in recent months over the issue, with senior politicians in Dublin suggesting Britain’s Rwanda policy has caused the spike in arrivals of those ‘fearful’ of deportation to the African state.
An operation to move asylum seekers on from tent encampments is carried out in Dublin today
Asylum applicants board a coach during an early morning operation to remove tents today
The operation to dismantle the tents pitched in a cramped space along the Grand Canal began shortly after 7am
Today’s intervention marks the fifth time that asylum seekers sleeping in tents have been moved from parts of Dublin city in recent months, twice at the International Protection Office on Mount Street and three times along the Grand Canal.
The operation to dismantle the tents pitched in a cramped space along the Grand Canal began shortly after 7am this morning.
Workers sprayed numbers on around 80 tents before the operation commenced.
More than 90 minutes passed before the international-protection applicants were informed by volunteers they were being asked to move.
The volunteers assisted with uncovering tarps from the tents as they made efforts to ensure the applicants were awake and packed before the operation began.
Gardai began to arrive at the scene from 6.45am, before the asylum seekers started boarding multiple coaches to be transferred to other sites at 7am.
One young man who was offered State-provided accommodation on Thursday said he was fleeing conflict in Somalia.
He added that he has been awaiting an offer of accommodation in Ireland since February.
Speaking to the PA news agency, he said that men at the camp were fleeing conflict.
He also said he believes the move to State-provided shelter is good as there is no access to facilities at the makeshift camp.
He further expressed concern about “misinformation and propaganda” being spread about the men online and in the media.
With the Irish government facing different pressures on how to responsibly handle the situation, it has admitted it is not currently in a position to provide accommodation to all male asylum seekers arriving in the country.
The latest figures show there were 1,939 applicants awaiting an offer of accommodation.
Hundreds of applicants have been offered State-provided shelter through the operations, but tensions continue to rise between migrant communities and locals.
The government is currently operating State-provided shelter at multiple sites where it says it has robust, weatherproof tents.
It has said that the sites also have toilets and showers; health services; indoor areas where food is provided; facilities to charge phones and personal devices; access to transport to and from Dublin City Centre; and 24-hour onsite security.
Tented accommodation on the site of the former Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum today
The Irish government is working to expand existing camps and set up new ones
This is the fifth time asylum seekers sleeping in tents have been moved from parts of Dublin city in recent months
A new secret memo reportedly details plans to create new camps outside of Dublin (pictured)
The contentious issue has reportedly created divisions within the Irish government
Now, the government is making plans to expand existing sites, with the view to house hundreds of asylum seekers in prefab units more substantial than the current tent setups, according to the Irish Independent.
The secret memo seen by the outlet purports to detail plans for six new camps ‘earmarked to house record levels of asylum seekers’ in Mullingar and Athlone in County Westmeath; Ballymullen Barracks in Tralee, County Kerry; and Thornton Hall, Ballyogan and Crooksling in Dublin.
More than ten sites will be needed to ensure there is ‘sufficient supply’, the outlet reported.
There are also reportedly plans in the works to open a new IPO away from Dublin in an attempt to move the focus away from the capital.
Work at existing camps is expected to see more than 200 asylum seekers at the old military barracks in Mullingar afforded prefab shelters to replace existing tents.
And in Ballymullen, there are plans to move 60 Ukrainian refugees on to house other asylum seekers, according to the Irish Independent.
The ongoing issue has sparked strong reactions within Ireland.
Irish Cabinet members told The Mail on Sunday previously that fierce divisions had since emerged within the Irish government, critics slamming new Taoiseach Simon Harris for being out-manouvered by Rishi Sunak on the issue.
Micheál Martin, deputy to new Taoiseach Simon Harris, pointed the finger at the Rwanda policy for the apparent rise in arrivals from England.
Mr Martin, himself a former Taoiseach, said in late April: ‘I believe the Rwanda effect is impacting on Ireland and that didn’t happen today or yesterday. It’s been growing since the first iteration and publication of that strategy around Rwanda.’
‘It is having real impact on Ireland now in terms of people being fearful in the UK — maybe that’s the impact it was designed to have.
‘They’re leaving the UK and they are taking opportunities to come to Ireland, crossing the border to get sanctuary here and within the European Union as opposed to the potential of being deported to Rwanda,’ he added.
Irish Justice Minister Helen McEntree also recently claimed that 80 per cent of this year’s estimated 7,000 asylum seekers had come from the UK via Northern Ireland, prompting the government to declare the UK was unsafe for migrants owing to the Rwanda plan and triggering a diplomatic spat.
An anti-immigration march took place in Dublin on May 6 with some waving placards saying ‘we want out country back’
As many as 40 per cent of poll respondents said that they would support Ireland having a policy similar to Britain’s Rwanda scheme
A tented village in Dublin on April 30, 2024, with migrants left to sleep on footpaths and roads
As many as 72 per cent polled by the Sunday Independent and Ireland Thinks said they believed McEntree’s disputed claim about the number of migrants arriving in Ireland from Northern Ireland.
Still, both Sinn Féin and the Irish government have said that imposing checkpoints on the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, as well as a Rwanda-style deportation scheme for the arrivals, are out of the question.
A number of growing protests have taken place to protest the arrival of migrants, some demonstrators touting controversial messages such as ‘Irish Lives Matter’ and ‘Ireland for the Irish’.
Frustrated Irish citizens are suspected to have burned down dozens of derelict building designated as future asylum centres as early as 2018 and as recently as April, when a site in County Wicklow that saw protests against the government for its decision to use it for refugees was set alight.
Gardai also launched an investigation into a suspected arson attack on a Dublin property earmarked to house asylum seekers last week.