No truth to rumours that refugees would be housed in Limerick town
RUMOURS that over 50 asylum seekers / refugees would be housed in a County Limerick town are false, according to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
The rumour that started circulating last week mentioned that these asylum seekers/refugees were to be housed in a building currently being renovated in the heart of Kilmallock town.
In an open letter sent to local politicians and media when rumours started circulating, some concerned residents of the Kilmallock area said that the issue of “admitting unvetted and undocumented migrants” needed to be “urgently highlighted”.
“I want to be very clear here, from the information I have received, these are not Ukrainian families. These are predominantly single males of African origin,” the letter said.
“This is particularly troubling given the amount of children in our local schools,” the letter added.
The refugees were said to be housed in a building formerly home to a hardware store in the heart of Kilmallock town.
The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth following a query from the Limerick Leader said they have no record of the building being offered for accommodation purposes.
Sinn Féin councillor for the municipal district of Cappamore-Kilmallock PJ Carey said these rumours started last week.
“This email was sent around via WhatsApp. People were concerned,” Mr Carey said.
Concerned residents of the local community were planning on protesting on Sunday, December 10, but it was called off due to the confirmation that the rumours were false.
In a post on Facebook, Mr Carey said: “After a meeting with Sergeant Treacy and some concerned residents from Kilmallock at Bruff Garda Barracks this morning and having received assurances and clarification from both the sergeant and Roderic O'Gorman's office at the Department of Integration that there is no truth in recent messages posted on social media regarding 50+ asylum seekers/refugees to be housed in the town, the protest has now been cancelled.”
“I heard it from very high authority that the rumours weren’t true,” Mr Carey told the Limerick Leader.
“It was all very strange. I think the person who wrote the first email was genuine. It read genuine to me, I don’t think it was a hoax we’ll say, even though it was factually inaccurate,” he added.
“We just had to work with the different departments and the guards to get to the bottom of it,” he added.
According to Mr Carey, it is important to engage with everyone in the community particularly when it comes to sensitive matters. “If you don’t engage with people, you alienate them. So even people who I wouldn’t agree with on certain things, you still have to talk to them.”