Tomás Ó Flatharta

Late in the night of Monday July 17 2023 racists threw a brick through a window of Councillor Hugh Lewis’s family home in Dún Laoghaire. The only occupant in the house was Hugh’s 78 year old father Peter, who, fortunately, was not physically injured. Hugh describes the incident in the radio interview below.

https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22276344/

Anti-racists in the area are organizing :

We believe it is important for people to go Beyond the Myths and Lies. Here are some Facts we have prepared on how the Process of Seeking Asylum works

FACT: All people seeking asylum are registered and security checked. People seeking asylum must register with the state at their point of arrival. Details of their identity, where they came from, and a lot more detail is all documented in their application for international protection.

FACT: Some people escaping from war, persecution or exploitation may not be in a position to present identity documents when they arrive in Ireland, such is the nature of fleeing from a war zone or a crisis. Some people have undertaken horrendous journeys over land and sea, which in some cases results in documents being lost or stolen.

FACT: People seeking asylum are a mix of families, single males and single females. Accommodation is put in place to provide for privacy, for complying with child protection legislation and to have family friendly spaces. Some emergency accommodation centres don’t have family facilities in place so they can only host single genders, be they men or women.

FACT: No person seeking asylum is on any public housing waiting list or taking council housing. The accommodation people like asylum are staying in is not suitable for families or individuals waiting on permanent homes. People seeking asylum do not receive preferential treatment over homeless Irish people. People seeking asylum are housed under the Department of Children and Integration, this is completely separate to the Department of Housing which oversees local authorities and social housing.

In the 2022 census, 166,752 properties were recorded as vacant in Ireland. Government policy allows this to happen while people are homeless. With the political will to do so, it is possible to accommodate all people who are homeless and people seeking asylum in decent accommodation.

Thanks to Gregor Kerr for all the useful information.