DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL has warned of “false reports” circulating online about a new housing development in Clonshaugh, Dublin 17. 

The new social housing development contains 40 units: 20 one-bedroom and 20 two-bedroom. It is owned and managed by an approved housing body co-operative, Housing Ireland, and is funded by the Department of Housing. 

Online platforms including X and Facebook have played host to claims that the housing development is being used to house “new locals” in the area and asylum seekers. 

In one video posted online, a man outside the apartment complex says of the housing bodies: “They’re all for diversity and mixing it up and housing some Irish and housing all the newbies that are coming into the country, when we have our own Irish on the [housing] list”.

A picture of a woman in a headscarf outside the complex has been shared extensively. Some of the posts have thousands of views. One post said that the apartments, meant for local residents, are being given to people “in the country a wet week” and the development is going to be “a very fancy IPAS centre paid for by you”. 

However, in a statement this afternoon. the city council hit back at the claims.

It told the public about “false reports circulating about a new housing development at Clonshaugh”. 

“The units have been allocated to individuals and families on the Dublin City Council social housing list. The scheme was advertised through Choice Based Lettings in July this year and only those who were already on the Dublin City Council housing list were eligible to register their interest.”

A number of local residents’ groups have arranged a meeting this evening to discuss the situation, according to posts online.

Over the past few years, claims that asylum seekers are being given social housing become more common, as well as claims that immigrants are being prioritised for housing. Some buildings that have been attached to these claims subsequently been vandalised, or in other cases, burnt down. 

In July, two houses owned by Mayo County Council, earmarked for social housing, were damaged by a fire after incorrect reports circulated that they would be used to accommodate asylum seekers.