ANTI-MIGRANT GROUPS BROKE through garda lines at an accommodation centre in Athlone yesterday, gaining access to the site while people hid inside.

A number of people who were in the accommodation centre at the time described themselves as being terrified as a group of men got through the garda barrier, with a member of security injured amid the scenes.

The demonstrations also resulted in the centre’s generator being damaged – causing residents to have no power for most of the last 24 hours.

It was the latest in a string of incidents targeting asylum-seekers in the town in recent days.

In a statement tonight, the government department in charge of the site and the broader asylum system said that a “number of unauthorised people” entered the Midlands Accommodation Centre in Athlone.

“During the disturbance, a member of the onsite security team was injured. There were no injuries to residents of the centre,” the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth said.

One of the site’s electrical blocks was also “damaged during the disturbance, causing a temporary power outage”, the department added.

Power was restored this evening. The ESB confirmed to The Journal that the site is not yet properly serviced and is currently powered by a generator.

In its statement, the department spokesperson said it will continue to use Midlands Accommodation Centre to provide much-needed shelter to people seeking international protection.

Social media videos

Videos posted to social media show gardaí trying to hold up railings against protesters only to find their lines overrun by demonstrators who then gained access to the grounds where people were staying.

Athlone For All – a local group of volunteers which provides voluntary support to asylum-seekers staying at the centre – described what took place as a “disturbing” development for the town.

It called on local politicians to “start pushing back” against hatred being stirred up over the centre, which is located to the north of the town in the Lissywollen area. The group says that a number of social media accounts have been posting untrue and inflammatory information, including drone footage of the centre, with some increasingly calling for violence.

Asylum-seekers and locals supporting them had sought answers on why there has been no electricity at the site over the past 24 hours. Men told The Journal they were sleeping fully clothed with jackets in a bid to hold off the cold.

The past number of days and weeks in Athlone have seen a series of incidents where asylum-seekers and local volunteers were allegedly threatened and harassed by anti-migrant groups as tensions have increased over the accommodation centre.

In one such incident, it is alleged that a man threatened a bus of international protection applicants with a hatchet.

Athlone for All also pointed to other examples of intimidation and discrimination, including asylum-seekers being refused service in a local shop.

Approximately 92 men who had been staying at an International Protection Accommodation Service (Ipas) site in Crooksling, Co Wicklow were transported to the state-run Midlands accommodation centre earlier this week.

Around 200 people attended the protest on Sunday against their arrival, according to gardaí.

“A small number gained entry to private property and were subsequently directed to leave by Gardaí. These individuals complied with Garda instruction and voluntarily left the area,” a garda spokesperson said.

One man staying at the site told The Journal that many residents fled to the canteen for their safety after protesters gained entry.

Frightening

“We were so scared,” one man said. “When they broke into the camp most guys ran back to the kitchen, to the canteen.”

Another man staying at the Ipas centre told The Journal that security had hurried him and other men to the canteen after protesters got inside the grounds, locking the dining hall behind them.

“We could hear shouting and then my friends said they thought we should leave. Then we heard that the protesters had broken inside, so we were rushed to the kitchen. From the window we could see around 10 or 15 guys who got through and were running around.”

The man said he has been fearing for his safety and that of his friends since coming to Athlone.

“We aren’t safe here, we aren’t accepted in this town. I have fear that if I go into then town centre that I could get attacked,” he said. “They don’t think we’re human.”

The Garda statement said that enquiries into “all of the circumstances surrounding this incident are ongoing” at this time.

“There is a constitutional right to the freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, subject to statutory provisions. An Garda Síochána respects the right of citizens to exercise their constitutional rights and to carry out peaceful protest,” gardaí said.

When complete the site is expected to be able to accommodate 1,000 men seeking international protection.

However, it has faced opposition from local and national groups who are opposing the housing of people on the site.

Sunday’s protest had walked from the town centre out to the Ipas site. This followed a similar route as other protests in recent weeks, but unlike on those previous occasions, the site was no longer empty.

Refusal to serve asylum seekers

Another asylum seeker staying at the Athlone site alleged that a number of men were turned away from one local shop.

He said men were told “you’re not from here, get out of here” and “get the f**k out”.

Calls for local businesses to refuse service to asylum-seekers have been made on social media pages discussing the Athlone site.

On Facebook, one woman posting underneath the Athlone Stands Together page said she had avoided serving any residents in her store. “I walked off my till twice yesterday,” she said, adding that she “didn’t want to deal with them.”

‘Atmosphere of intimidation’

One man who has been volunteering in the area with asylum seekers told The Journal that there has been an “atmosphere of intimidation” in recent weeks.

He said he had been leafletting houses to protest against anti-migrant sentiment when he and his colleagues were pursued by a couple in a car. 

“A man and a woman – probably aged in their 30s – began driving after us, shouting at us for handing out leaflets. They were filming us, shining their headlights.

“They shouted at us: ‘You want to bring in one thousand paedophiles.’ Just this complete wild fantastical misinformation, but they then tried to block my car in when I was parked. I couldn’t reverse it and it was dark at this stage.”

The volunteer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the couple drove off after he got into his car.

“But it’s indicative of the atmosphere around this relatively small town,” he added.

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth was contacted about yesterday’s scenes.

In its response this evening, it said that nearly 3,000 international protection applicants have no offer of accommodation at present.

“Over the last number of weeks, because of cold and stormy weather, some of our accommodation sites for male applicants have been placed out of use,” the department said.

“Applicants for international protection do not have access to social housing support or standard social welfare entitlements, and many of them lack a network of family or friends in the State to assist them with accommodation.

“Temporary accommodation sites such as this site in Athlone are an essential component of the Government’s strategy to provide basic accommodation to applicants.”