Sending 100 Asylum Seekers to Moville was Purely Commercial Decision
100 Asylum Seekers
According to Padraig McLochlainn, who attended the meeting in Glencrow, no one should be in any doubt as to why 100 Asylum seekers are to be sent to Moville.
He said it was nothing to do with spreading the Asylum Seekers across the country.
He said that it was a purely commercial decision.
He told the meeting that the Caiseal Mara hotel in Moville was chosen because it was the cheapest option.
There was a competitive tender and the Caiseal Mara was able to provide the facility at the cheapest rate.
Welfare of Asylum Seekers Was Low Priority
“This was not done with the welfare and well-being of the Asylum Seekers in mind” said Padraig.
Living in Moville would be just about the worst option for them.
That’s not because they won’t like Moville.
It is because of its location.
Regular Dublin Visits
The Asylum Seekers have to go to Dublin regularly for interviews and assessments.
You can imagine the hoops the civil servants will make them jump through.
They are not allowed to go through the North.
So, they have to take the long way around.
It will take them probably around 10 hours to get to Dublin.
They may even have to stay overnight in Sligo each time they have to go to Dublin – and that will be a lot.
Far More Than Moville’s Fair Share
When the refugees come, that will increase Moville’s population of 1,480 in 2016 by around 7%.
According to Eugene Banks of the RIA, who allocate the Asylum Seekers, Ireland will have to house 3,500 asylum seekers in the next year.
If this was evenly spread throughout the country, with Moville only having 1,480 of Ireland’s population of 4 million, Moville should have been allocated one Asylum Seeker.
Sending 100 Asylum Seekers to Moville is the equivalent of sending 150,000 Asylum seekers to Dublin in the space of just a few weeks.
That would never be allowed to happen.
No Extra Resources for Moville
Yet, Moville will have to cope as best it can without any promise of extra resources.
The Government agency, the RIA, are basically going to dump them here and go – leaving the clearing up of any mess as regards resources to local health, education and police authorities.
No one should blame the asylum seekers.
They are being screwed even more than local people by this deal.
Caiseal Mara the Cheapest Option
The only reason they are being dumped here is because putting them in the Caiseal Mara is the cheapest option.
These poor people have had to put up with a lot – only to find that they are being sent to a place almost half a day from where it would be best for them to be.
Surely the Government should have some sort of policy on the maximum number of people who can be sent to a particular area depending on the population of that area.
Moville is getting 100 times the number they should get if it is spread out fairly.
No Job Creating Businesses Sent Here
One notices that when they are looking to put job-creating businesses somewhere in the country, Moville and Inishowen are never on their minds.
It’s only when they need to dump a whole load of Asylum Seekers somewhere, well away form Dublin, then Moville and Inishowen are right at the front of their thoughts.
However, local people should make sure hat they blame the right people.
This is not he fault of the Asylum seekers.
They would rather be somewhere near Dublin.
This is fault of the Government, and, specifically, the Ministry of Justice and Equality and the agency they have in place to follow out their instructions.
People should remember who the real villains are.