Revealed: Families in Tipperary told to leave property later this month
Many of the former asylum seekers are now Irish citizens
Ten families in Borrisokane have been told to vacate their homes by July 26.
These families were initially asylum seekers and have been living in Riverside Apartments Borrisokane since 2019. They want to continue living in Borrisokane, a community which has warmly assimilated them.
Borrisokane Liaison Committee, which represents the families, told the Midland Tribune that a meeting was called “by the Tipperary Council Executive for yesterday, 15th of July; notice was given to the relevant Departments and the property group but none of them attended.” The Liaison Committee said it was very disappointed by this non-attendance.
There are 96 residents, comprising 20 families, at the Riverside Centre.
"Most of them," said the Liaison Committee, "have their status to remain in Ireland so are no longer IPAS applicants".
"Many of them have been awarded Irish citizenship. 10 of the 20 families received eviction notices back in March of this year.
"These notices stated that they were to vacate the property by the 26th of July.
"The government said that if they could not find suitable accommodation then they would be rehoused in emergency accommodation.
"The remaining families are expecting their eviction notices in the coming weeks.
"Our situation is unique compared to that of other Centres across the country because of the written agreement that was made back in 2019.
"Our fight is not only about leaving the residents remain where they are but to also honour the agreement that was made.”
Margaret Donnelly, PRO of the Borrisokane Liaison Committee, said the Committee feels let down by the government departments "who were first in the door in 2019 when they wanted us to work with them, now they are avoiding us as we stand alone with our agreement that we worked so hard to obtain in 2019".
"We, the Liaison Committee, the Elected Representatives of the Nenagh Municipal Area, its executive, Department of Justice Principal Officer, Dept representatives and the property's Management spent three long days in the Civic Offices in Nenagh thrashing out an agreement that could and indeed did make sure that the then Asylum Seekers were given a warm welcome by our community, to be fully integrated; as this was a strong request by both the Department and our Committee (on behalf of the wider community). We are proud to say this has been a huge success. We have been lauded and applauded the length of the country for our approach.
"We insisted on families only.
"An integral part of our agreement was, and is, that if and when these families received their status they would be allowed to continue to live in the Riverside Centre, be it under HAP or private rental payment, if they so desired.
"A 10K radius of our town was to be free of any direct provision centres, in order to achieve full integration.
"Our 2019 agreement was signed off by a then senior official of the Dept of Justice on behalf of all parties involved.
"This is our agreement. It must be honoured by all parties, including the Government!"