Big Crowd to Question Asylum Seekers Agency in Glencrow Hall
Asylum Seekers Agency in Glencrow Hall
There was a massive crowd at Glencrow Hall on Friday night to question those that have decided that Moville should have 100 or more Asylum Seekers staying in the Caiseal Mara hotel.
There were so many that not everyone could get in.
The halls and lobbies and off-rooms were packed too as well as he aisles being full.
I estimated that there was around 300-350 people there but I could be underestimating it as I couldn’t see exactly how many couldn’t get in.
The meeting was Chaired by Martin Farren who had invited along Charlie McConnalogue and Padraic MacLochlainn.
The guys from the Government Agency were about half an hour late.
Angry Start to Meeting
The start of the meeting was more than a little angry as Enda Craig and others fired questions that were more like accusations towards the front table.
Each one got a mighty applause.
However, the tone of the meeting changed as people started to talk more of the Asylum Seekers than the ones who are sending them here.
In the end the tone of the meeting was more on how Moville people can help the refugees when they came here – although there were still some voices of dissent.
I think the three guys from the agency were quite pleased at that as it let them off the hook a little.
Audience Happy to Support Asylum Seekers
However, the majority of the audience wanted to make it clear that they were happy to help and support the Asylum Seekers when they come here.
Some audience members pointed out the harrowing time that some of them have had and as the meeting went on those still complaining about the Asylum Seekers got short shrift more and more.
However, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
First Arrivals in December
Eugene Banks, the leader of the Reception and Integration Agency, said that the Asylum seekers would arrive in batches of about 20.
The first ones would arrive in the first week of December.
The Asylum Seekers coming are going to be mostly from Georgia, Albania, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Eugene said that there had been no attempt to hide the fact that the Asylum Seekers were coming.
However, that was taken with a huge pinch of salt by the audience.