REACTION: 'What is the actual point of this? It makes no sense'

"The decision by the Government to give deadlines to the residents of the IPA riverside centre in Borrisokane to move out is a disgrace," says Tipperary Labour TD Alan Kelly. 

He added: "This is the very opposite of integration which is what this Department is supposed to be about.

"These residents now have status and the company that owns these apartments should be contracted to take HAP once such residents get such status.

"This should be part of any IPA contracts around the country. Companies should have to take HAP where applicable for a 3-5 year period after providing an IPA service.

"This recent decision goes completely against the agreement with the local people that was made in 2019 that the new residents would be allowed to stay in the town of Borrisokane.

"What even more frustrating is that the government are totally contradicting themselves in moving the residents from one IPA centre just up the road to another IPA centre in Birr. What is the actual point of this? It makes no sense.

"This Government and their supporters need to explain why they are treating these residents and the community of Borrisokane with such contempt and disrespect and why they actually don’t practice what they preach; namely that integration should mean integration."

Borrisokane residents of Riverside Apartments have been issued notice to leave.

20 families living in the Riverside Apartments direct provision accommodation were informed earlier this year that they were being evicted with the first ten families potentially having to leave this month.

The reason they are facing eviction is that they have been given “Leave to Remain” status.

This means they no longer hold refugee status or subsidiary protection and are no longer entitled to live in housing provided by International Protection Accomodation Services (IPAS) because they have been granted permission to stay in Ireland.

PRO Margaret Donnelly said that last week a letter was received by residents that they are to be moved on by 5th of September: “The week before, the children who were happily preparing to go back to their schools to start a new year with their teachers and friends. Parents having purchased new books and uniforms. The department and government have refused to meet with us to listen to what we have to say to get our heads together for a solution instead of them constantly making problems.

“Ticking boxes is not a long term solution nor is shuffling humans around from one place to another like a deck of cards. The alternative accommodation is an emergency IPAS centre and as we know this is temporary accommodation so this will then entail these families to be moved on again. It is beyond any comprehension why this is happening.

“Our agreement when it was made with the department and property group offered a solution to everyone. To the families to give them a stable long term home to become active residents of a community, to join in the sporting groups in the area, to the schools, the local GP surgery, as part of the agreement to allow the families to remain in the apartments if they so wished under the HAP scheme if they qualified or through private rental,” she said.

She says they’ve been offered places in an emergency accommodation centre in Birr which is not acceptable as it is likely to only be temporary.