Protesters opposed to the housing of asylum seekers in the East Wall have called for a referendum on how they are accommodated and vowed not to meet any more politicians until their demands are met.
Protests and blockades of Dublin’s Port tunnel have now entered their third week and the East Wall Committee have hardened on their stance to continue until a former ESB office building being used to accommodate the asylum seekers is shut down or the government accedes to their demands on how men, women and children are housed.
Up to 100 male asylum seekers were bused into the former ESB building at the end of November. Now the protestors claim men, women and children are being accommodated at the former office block in unacceptable conditions.
Read More: East Wall protest brings city to standstill by blocking Port Tunnel and Dublin Port during rush hour
Neither councillors, Council management nor local residents were consulted on the housing of the asylum seekers in the building which looks directly onto the Lighthouse apartment complex and primary school.
Councillors at a meeting just hours to the asylum seekers asked for further time to consult with the Department over the housing of the men however on Friday evening the male refugees arrived on buses outside the former ESB building.
The Department said the former ESB office building on East Wall Road has been converted into an accommodation centre in response to mounting pressure being put on the country's commitment to house asylum seekers
Nigel Murphy, a spokesperson for the East Wall Protest Committee said: “Today the State has populated the building with men, women and children, these are clearly not new arrivals but have been brought there from other facilities this is a tactic by the State to attempt to neutralise our protest.
“Many have been taken from hotel rooms and now downgraded to a cubicle in an office block, how can this be right?”
Mr Murphy continued: “In light of the actions today by the State we will not be meeting any more political representatives until they accede to our demands. We will not be swayed by politicians setting-up groups in the area to try and protect their own political base and distract from the key issue.
“The Government claims that the people of Ireland support what they are doing, we say they don’t and we now call on (them) to put the matter to the people in a simple referendum.”
Mr Murphy said the Committee calls on the rest of the nation to form community groups and stand up against what they call “this madness”.
“We understand what other communities are going through and we want to build on our success so far. The Irish people deserve better than the recklessness of open borders, the transfer of the people’s wealth to hotel owners and other contractors.”
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and Equality Minister Roderic O’Gorman have already met with residents and the protestors over their concerns that 380 asylum seekers are to be housed at the former ESB site and on North Richmond Street without any consultation.
To date all of the asylum seekers are from Somalia, Afghanistan and Nigeria.
The Government has said that women and children will also be housed at both properties.
Mr Murphy added that the East Wall protest has set “the benchmark for de-political debate around sensitive topics and thus a much needed national debate is happening right now in almost every sitting room, radio station, media outlet, social media platform and the Dáil and Seanad”.
Current projections by the Department of Equality said they have to meet their international obligations on housing asylum seekers.
The Department has indicated there will be a shortfall of 15,000 beds for asylum seekers this month and it expects that the number of Ukrainians and International Protection applicants arriving is expected to remain at elevated levels.
The Department added that since January of this year there have been more than 12,300 international protection applicants arriving into Ireland. The Department pointed out that in the 10-year-period from 2010 to 2020 there were 3,500 such arrivals which is placing additional pressure on available accommodation.
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