Anger over relocation of asylum seekers

LOCALS in the seaside town of Tramore are up in arms over plans to move several families out of a hostel for asylum seekers and into Waterford city.

Many of the asylum-seeking families have been in Tramore for years and their children are settled in schools in the area. They are being moved out at a time when up to 70 single men living in a hostel in the town for just months are being allowed to stay, local councillors say.

Town Mayor Lola O’Sullivan said the move away from Ocean House for the families who were previously housed at Atlantic House makes no sense.

“It would make far better sense for them to move the single men who have not been here for long and leave the families where they are settled. The children should continue to be educated here,” she said.

Ms O’Sullivan said that for a town the size of Tramore, keeping so many single men in one house makes no sense. She said the people of the town welcomed the asylum seekers with open arms.

She said the families who are faced with another move have already had a move from one hostel to another in the past months.

“The families who have been living here were told a few weeks ago that Ocean View was closing down. They don’t know where they are going. They have made their life in Tramore and their children are in school here. We are in the middle of a school year. If they were to be left until the end of June or the middle of the summer it would give them some chance of finding another school. The schools in Waterford simply won’t be able to take them in at this time of the year,” she added.

Fianna Fáil councillor Ben Gavin has also opposed the move, saying the families are settled in Tramore.

“The parents and families have mixed and integrated and they feel safe are happy here. We are just being told by this particular section of the Department of Justice that these people are just being moved on, simple as that. They seem to change the rules whenever it suits them,” he said.

The Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) has embarked on a programme of downsizing of its accommodation portfolio because of falling numbers of asylum-seekers.

A RIA spokesperson said: “Where children are attending local schools, every effort is made by RIA to ensure there is minimum disruption to children’s education. In all cases, children will be relocated to an area where they can continue their education. In addition, the family centres remaining in the RIA system have enhanced facilities for younger children such as play groups and creches.”