A crowd of about 300 people, many of them children, paraded through Kildare town yesterday evening in protest at Government plans to house asylum-seekers there.
The Department of Justice intends to house up to 400 asylum-seekers in McGee Barracks which was vacated by the Army in 1998. The barracks already houses 300 Kosovar refugees.
The protest march, which began at the barracks one hour before a public meeting with officials from the Department of Justice, was accompanied by a cacophony of horns as motorists were invited to show their support.
The march was led by about 70 children whose placards carried slogans such as "Health - are we at risk?" and "Health? Education? Security?" Other slogans carried by adults included "Kildare says No" and "When we say No we mean No". A number of placards carried the slogan "Your town could be next".
Later a number of people walked out of the public meeting, which was addressed by Ms Bernice O'Neill of the Department of Justice. According to Ms O'Neill 15,000 asylum-seekers were expected to arrive in the Republic this year and the Department planned to initially house 200 at McGee Barracks in 100 mobile homes. The number could rise to 400 in time, she said.
To applause, a local general practitioner, Dr Michael Collins, said he wanted to know what measures would be put in place to address any possible spread of TB or hepatitis B. Adding that he was not suggesting the asylum-seekers would spread disease, Dr Collins said he was concerned about medical screening. He said a stretched health service was bad for both the people of the town and the asylum-seekers.
When Ms O'Neill said the Department of Health had information that asylum-seekers so far had not carried serious health risks, Dr Collins replied: "I beg to differ". Other questions at the meeting related to whether a wall could be built around the site to protect locals' privacy, the question of the deployment of extra gardai and the availability of extra teachers in schools.
Chris Dooley adds:
Plans to accommodate 90 asylum-seekers in Tramore, Co Waterford, appear likely to go ahead unimpeded. Tramore Town Commission has decided that the asylum-seekers should be welcomed, but says the town should not be asked to take any more.
