Residents in parts of north Co Dublin and Meath have called for more information about the development of an accommodation centre for international protection applicants at Thornton Hall, which, with almost 1,000 residents, will be the biggest in the State.
Local people and politicians have accused the Department of Integration of failing to engage sufficiently with surrounding communities about the development, with some warning that the absence of information is fuelling disinformation.
But the Department says it has engaged extensively about the development which is part of its new approach to providing accommodation for international protection applicants.
Thornton Hall comprises of 150 acres of former farmland which lies between Kilsallaghan and Coolquay in north Co Dublin, close to the border with Meath.
It first came to public attention almost 20 years ago in 2005 when it was acquired by the State for €30 million, multiples of the market value at the time.
The Department of Justice said the land would be used to build a super prison to replace an overcrowded Mountjoy jail.
A further €11m was spent to ready it for construction but the development never happened and the site lay idle for almost two decades.
However, in recent week Minister for Integration Roderic O'Gorman used a ministerial order to begin the construction of an accommodation centre on the site.
He says Thornton Hall will accommodate 40 international protection applicants by the end of September.
That figure will rise to 440 during October and November and to just under 1,000 by January 2025, making it the largest international protection site in the State.
"The site has been chosen because it's State land. It has been owned by the Department of Justice for decades now and hasn't been put to good use and a core part of the new accommodation strategy is we need to move away from relying on private commercial providers, and actually use State land to allow us more quickly, more effectively and on a more cost effective basis, bring accommodation online."
Read more:
Government to provide tents at Thornton Hall in 'very near future'
Thornton Hall accommodation ready in 'four to six weeks' - Tánaiste
Some of those who live in the small townland surrounding the site have concerns about the development.
However, they say they also have difficulty voicing their concerns because of interference from anti-immigration groups from outside the area.
One local resident, who did not want to be identified, explained: "The concerns of the community are that there's 1,000 plus applicants being proposed to be on this site.
"It is a greenfield site. There is no amenities in the local area. There is no local transport, there's no local healthcare.
"The area itself is not serviced enough to accommodate the locals. As it is, you could stand on the road and see four or five buses pass before you get a bus into town.
"These are the concerns we've been bringing to the Department, and they're the ones that are not being responded to. We don't feel that we're being heard."
The resident also said she and others are reluctant to speak out because of the interference from anti-immigrant groups from outside of the area
"There are other forces, and I feel personally that if I am too vocal with my personal views, that I could inflame or inflate somebody else's political agenda."
In Ashbourne, Co Meath, 5km from the site, locals are also calling for more information.
Alan Tobin, a Fine Gael Councillor for Ashbourne, says the lack of engagement from the Department of Integration is fuelling disinformation
"A Teams meeting and three emails is not consultation. That site was deemed unsuitable by Fingal County Council and their county development plan as as a site for housing. But it is suitable for tented accommodation?
"We're not being told about recreational facilities for the men, what are they going to be doing there, what educational facilities are going to be there for the men. So what are they going to do all day?
"We have had no opportunity to talk, no public forum to talk and therefore social media has driven this whole agenda.
"The Department of Integration hasn't come back on any of the queries that we've had. So anything that's been fuelled on social media has now almost become believable, because we're not able to counteract it, and it must be counteracted."
The local community Partnership for Fingal which promotes integration says listening to the community concerns will be key to the success of this centre.
CEO of Empower Adeline O'Brien said: "The people who live close to and around that site have identified and clearly articulated what their worries and concerns are.
"I think what needs to happen is meaningful engagement with the local community because people who live around this area have worked really hard over a number of years to build and sustain a vibrant community, to raise their families, to live, to work, to go about their lives.
"Their lived experience on a day-to-day basis will change once these developments unfold. So we have to make sure that local people living in their own area, that their lived experience, is part of this process of developing a sustainable solution. Because otherwise it's not going to work for anybody."
Minister O'Gorman says there's been extensive community engagement about the Thornton Hall site and promised further engagement before the site begins operating later this month.
"There's been one direct meeting with the community. There's been extensive meetings with TDs and councillors representing the entire area, and we've been very clear, further meetings can and will take place.
"We know that there has been a small group, not actually from the area, who have been undertaking very violent actions, doing damage to the site, actually undertaking animal cruelty on the site.
"What we found is that's actually creating a chilling effect in terms of the local community and their willingness to engage, their willingness to ask very fair questions about issues to do with resources.
"But our community engagement team will continue to engage with local representatives, but also directly with the community."
Responding to concerns about the suitability of the site due to lack of sewerage facilities and aircraft noise due its location under a flight path from Dublin Airport, the Minister said the site was not intended as a permanent home for people seeking international protection
"We know people aren't living in international accommodation as their forever home. People are in international accommodation as while their application is being processed.
"Work is being done across Government to shorten that process time which means people get their answer yes or no more quickly. That has been really effective and that's going to continue.
"More investment will be put in so people aren't going to be living in this accommodation or indeed other international accommodation for the long term."
