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A STAND-OFF IN Dublin’s Liberties has seen rising tensions over a local anti-immigration group’s opposition to the proposed use of a building for asylum seekers.
An anti-immigration outfit calling itself Dublin 8 Says No has set up a picket outside the building in a lane called Basin View, adjacent to three schools. Some parents in the area have alleged that children have faced “racist abuse” this week on their way in and out of school. There has been a strong garda presence on the lane in the last two days.
The location is a busy drop-off and collection point for three schools in the area, a cul-de-sac sandwiched between the ever-popular Guinness Storehouse and the site of the new National Children’s Hospital. Many of the teachers in one of the local schools were seen escorting children out of the gate this afternoon amid rising tensions.
The dispute surrounds a building in Basin View, formerly a commercial warehouse. Owned by developer Eamonn Heavey’s Coolebridge Limited, it is being converted to residential accommodation, and the company is now seeking to designate it as a property for the International Protection Accommodation Service (Ipas). An adjacent building in the lane, also owned by the same company, has been hosting around 20 people for Ipas over the past three years.
There is a sizeable feeling that the area has been “long neglected” for years by authorities, local parents told The Journal, but they said this was “no excuse” for what they described as “intimidating” behaviour at the protest.
One mother, whose kids go to school nearby, said that families and teachers “have a right to walk freely in and out of their school yard without facing abuse”.
“Yesterday, a group of protesters just showed up and started shouting and roaring at everyone as they passed. Basin Lane is a cul-de-sac, effectively, with narrow pedestrian access at the site of the protest. That’s intimidating for little children and parents,” she said.
On the alleged racist abuse faced by children this week, the mother said parents were “disgusted and sickened”.
While she acknowledged that deprivation and a lack of adequate housing for the community were ongoing issues around Basin Lane, the mother added:
Parents and children going to school do not feel safe this week. While gardaí were there at the scene yesterday, and said the group had a right to protest, what they do not have the right to do is shout and roar at kids passing by.
As with many locations in Dublin City Centre, access to housing is a major issue in the Basin Lane area. Dublin City Council plans to redevelop the old Basin Street flats on this lane, with the planning granted in February. This should involve the demolition of four existing Basin Street Flats residential blocks and the construction of 171 apartments.
The Department of Justice’s Community Engagement Team, which oversees information and services for Ireland’s asylum system, has confirmed to local politicians that it has received an offer in respect of the building.
However, discussions are ongoing and an assessment is still to be carried out to determine whether the site is suitable for the asylum system.
“As with all offers, a full assessment, including inspection must take place before any application can progress further. The Department receives multiple offers of accommodation, many of which do not progress for a variety of reasons,” it said in correspondence seen by The Journal.
Around 20 men and women, some with young children, had set up chairs directly outside the IPAS centre beside the building site earlier today.
When a reporter from The Journal attended the scene, protestors repeatedly avoided questions on the property.
They claimed that “unvetted single men” were to be housed there. They became increasingly aggressive towards the reporter and brought up vague conspiracy theories, unprompted.
While they said there is a strong community spirit in the Basin Lane area, several parents speaking on condition of anonymity described a “lawless” feeling due to the ongoing issues of open drug dealing and antisocial behaviour.
One father of local children at a school said, “I have no time for local residents abusing or upsetting children at their schools, and that does seem to have been the case since Monday. There’s no excuse for it. Make your point in a peaceful manner.
“Everyone has sympathy with the residents of the area when it comes to the challenges and social deprivation around here… a lot is happening around here in recent years… massive development around Guinness, the new Children’s Hospital and those communities who are already disenfranchised, they just feel forgotten. However, this is not the fault of those seeking asylum.”
Another mother, who witnessed the protests at the school collection yesterday, said her overriding concern is the “blatant drug dealing beside the school every day”, not the presence of people seeking international protection.
“I would love to see the community pull together and tackle the drug issue as a priority,” she added.
Local Labour councillor Darragh Moriarty said that he was hoping that clarity would be provided as “quickly as possible” on the site’s future.
“People seeking international protection are welcome in Dublin 8,” Moriarty told The Journal.
“For almost three years, there has been an International Protection Accommodation Centre on Basin Street, and people didn’t even know it was there. That’s how much it blended into our community.
“I understand there is an additional facility that may be opening up next door, but that is yet to be confirmed by the Department of Integration.”
Another local group, Dublin 8 for All, aims to help refugees settle and integrate into communities. Its spokesperson today said, “Dublin 8 is a diverse and welcoming multicultural community. Our group has over 200 members who are actively involved in welcoming people from new communities, working with groups like Inchicore for All to support new families through buddy systems, freecycles, language exchanges and sharing information.
“This small protest doesn’t reflect the wider community. A lot of us are facing problems with housing, financial problems, struggling with the cost of living and may be searching for someone to blame, but Ireland is a wealthy country, if they want to protest government spending and make sure the very wealthy are taxed, direct it at the Dáil, not at their neighbours.”
Gardaí confirmed they attended the scene of a public gathering on Basin View, Dublin 8 yesterday. No offences were disclosed, a Garda spokesperson said.
With reporting from Mairead Maguire.
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