Recent High Court decision against Leitrim County Council condemned

Cllr Felim Gurn said the recent High Court decision against Leitrim County Council for the relocation of international protection applicants to be located in a shared living space in the former hotel in Dromahair will ultimately have a huge impact on services in the village.

Speaking at the Manorhamilton municipal district meeting, he said it "is clear that the government is not listening to the community and I ask that this municipal district write to the Minister expressing our dissatisfaction with this outcome which is ultimately due to the government's failed approach to emigration policy at the expense of Irish homeless people and people on council housing waiting lists for years."

A letter has recently been sent by a local committee called 'The Concerned Citizens of Dromahair' calling for clarification from the Department over the judgement.

Cllr Mary Bohan said the "situation was handled really badly" and continued that due to a high demand on local GP services, she was aware of "two people in their eighties living a couple of hundred yards away from the doctor's surgery in Dromahair and they have to come to Drumkeeran; there's another couple, who don't drive, who have to get a taxi to Drumkeeran to attend a GP. For the department to say they are going to put 155 people into a building that is not fit even for those residents is not fair on them either. There are schools and everything else as well."

She said that "people are getting annoyed that they are not being listened to and they need to take a tougher stance; people that need to get housed, need to get housed and no one disagrees with that but there are a lot of people coming and we know there are people who come across the border who are not here because of war but are economic migrants.

"Allowing them to come in is having a serious effect on people who do need to come in from war-torn areas. I think the department have handled it very badly. And to say that there is a Community Engagement Team is a joke," she concluded.

Cllr Padraig Fallon said that "we need a system that functions" adding that "it doesn't seem that anything has been learned from anything that took place prior in other parts of the country; we need a plan."

He said that "with regard to the border aspect of it, I don't think we should have a border on the island of Ireland" with Cllr Bohan quickly responding that that was not her suggestion. 

Immigration controls on the border have come into sharp focus since comments from Minister for Justice Helen McEntee earlier this month that 80 per cent of asylum seekers are now coming over the border from Northern Ireland.

The number of people applying for international protection in Ireland has risen sharply in 2024. More than 6,000 people had applied for asylum by April 12. More than 2,000, a third of those, are Nigerian.

Cllr Fallon said there has to "be an obligation on the UK to check the identity of individuals coming to this island and this is what we need to see done."

He noted that tens of thousands of people cross the border for work every day and the "vast majority of those are Irish citizens". 

Cathaoirleach Cllr Justin Warnock said that "it is a mess and we are getting abused about it" adding that "the last thing I want to see on this island is a border but there are those at the moment, who'd rather see a border and deal with the situation than not. The government has to get a grip on this; and I can't understand people coming in and next thing there are these tents; the whole thing is picked up and everything is wasted. That kind of waste is wrong." 

He said that there has been an issue with healthcare in the country before the influx of Ukrainian migrants. "It's nearly impossible to see a doctor for the last 12 months; it's not due to people coming in, it's just that the service isn't there and the population in the country has gone from five million to six and a half million."

Cllr Sean McDermott said that "Dromahair is a welcoming village and the people there would try and work out a solution. The services never kept pace with the increasing population in Dromahair and that was during the boomtime so finding a solution is not easy but it must be worked out. It is a peaceful community in Dromahair."

Cllr Bohan said Ireland has welcomed "thousands of people" and "we couldn't manage without some of the people working in our hospitals and all the areas you can think of; they are making a major contribution."

She continued the committee in Dromahair "would and have welcomed a number of families; It's just the numbers and the services that are available. The people I've been dealing with on the committee in Dromahair are doing their best and have been very reasonable."

Cllr Gurn added that "the issue here is now down to numbers and hopefully, that can be worked out with the Taoiseach; that the numbers are limited and it is women and children and that the services in Dromahair are improved."