Tipperary council debunks false information on housing fueling anti-refugee sentiments

Tipperary County Council’s housing chief has clarified that Ukrainian refugees are not being accommodated in any of its housing stock or through any social housing schemes in response to false information circulating on social media.

The council’s Director of Housing Sinead Carr made a statement at the council’s monthly meeting in Clonmel firmly debunking the false rumours and myths about the accommodation of refugees fleeing the war-torn Eastern European country that are contributing to the stoking of anti-refugee sentiment.

She did so at the request of Clonmel Cllr Michael Murphy who paid tribute to what he described as the “extraordinary” efforts by the local authority to help Ukrainian refugees but highlighted a “growing perception” that this work was impacting on the council’s housing list.

He stressed this was a perception he didn’t support. He was very proud of the council’s work for Ukrainians fleeing the war and pointed to the images on the television in recent days of five and six tonne bombs being dropped on Ukraine’s civilian population.

The Fine Gael councillor asked Ms Carr to state whether Ukrainians were being housed in rental accommodation with the aid of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) and Rental Accommodation Scheme or through long term leasing arrangements.

And he asked her to state whether the council has purchased any housing or used any of its existing housing stock to accommodate refugees from Ukraine.

Ms Carr responded: “To be clear none of the social housing supports available in Housing For All (the Government’s housing plan) are available for any individual from Ukraine who is benefiting from temporary protection in this country.

“Ukrainians were not housed in private rental units available under HAP and RAS or any housing units rented to social housing applicants under long term leasing. They were also not accommodated in any of the council’s existing housing stock including newly built or purchased houses or housing provided by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs).”

She also pointed out that the council’s homeless supports were not available to Ukrainian refugees. Their accommodation was being managed in a different manner, she explained.

Ms Carr outlined that a team in the council, headed by Sean Lonergan, was dealing with the provision of accommodation for these refugees through houses and properties pledged by their owners to the Red Cross.

The team was also involved with management of the emergency rest centres where Ukrainians spent a few days before being sent to more permanent accommodation. These centres are at the Dr Pat O’Callaghan Sports Centre in Clonmel and the Moycarkey-Borris Community & Sports Centre in Littleton. She stressed Ukrainian refugees were not making the housing situation more difficult.

“Any housing units being given to Ukrainians are coming from the private sector and have not been in use for a while. They (the Ukrainians) are not taking up that cohort of properties that are available for general rent.”

Cllr Murphy wasn’t the only councillor to voice concern at the meeting about false information circulating about Ukrainian refugees among the public and on social media.

Mayor of Clonmel Cllr Pat English said the vast majority of people welcomed the refugees who found themselves in a terrible situation where they have to leave their native country but there was a far-right element operating on Facebook and other social media “stirring up stuff”.

The Workers & Unemployment Action Group councillor said it was up to elected representatives to fight for democracy and say these people, who have suffered a lot in their own country, are welcome.

Carrick-on-Suir Sinn Féin Cllr David Dunne also spoke in support of the council issuing a statement putting on public record that no Ukrainians were getting council housing in the county and also highlighted the false information being spread on Facebook. He complained it was very hard for councillors to fight against this false information.

Fianna Fáil Cllr Micheál Anglim said the Ukrainian refugees were being used by people to voice their anger about their own personal situations. A good chunk of Ukraine was currently not a place for women and children to be and they must do whatever they could for them.

He feared that if the right-wing extremists got a foothold and built it (anti-refugee and anti-immigrant) sentiment into a frenzy it could end in funerals. He hoped those fears would never be proved right. “There is no place for that in our country,” he added.

Nenagh-based Independent Cllr Seamus Morris, meanwhile, referred to cases elsewhere in the country where other refugees/asylum seekers, single men, were bused into areas in the middle of the night without prior consultation with the local community.

He argued that this was really testing Irish people’s patience and the Government department responsible shouldn’t be resorting to this. “If you want to move people into an area then you work with the local authority and people of the area.”

He suggested that accommodation facilities being built at the moment for Ukrainian refugees could become local authority facilities after the war.

Ms Carr responded that she too had heard false information about the housing of Ukrainian refugees including “mad statements” like they were being given cars to drive and getting their hair done for free, both of which were factually incorrect.

She called on those who knew better to “push back” against this false information. She pointed out that the suffering of Irish people was no where near what the people in Ukraine were enduring in this war and it behoved all of them to “take a step up and defend the truth”.

And she advised councillors to “block out the white noise” on social media because it didn’t represent what normal people believe.

Ms Carr said the extraordinary level of community support from private home owners to businesses for Ukrainians fleeing the war was generally indicative of the manner in which the Irish public regarded their plight.

In relation to Cllr Morris’ comments, she said local authorities had no role in the housing of refugees and asylum seekers entering the country from countries other than Ukraine. They were under the remit of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability Integration & Youth.