Two people arrested at asylum centre protest

TWO people were arrested yesterday after trouble flared at a reception centre for refugees and asylum seekers.

One of Cork’s busiest roads was blocked just before rush-hour by some of the 250 occupants of the Kinsale Road Accommodation Centre after a row erupted over efforts to remove 20 residents for breaching accommodation rules.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said its Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) issued warning letters last week to about 20 asylum seekers informing them that it was withdrawing their accommodation.

They have not been living at the centre full-time or have been missing for long periods, she said.

Some went on hunger strike and said they wouldn’t stop unless the letters were withdrawn.

They demanded RIA staff travel from Dublin yesterday for talks.

A senior RIA officer based at the centre tried to negotiate but the residents took to the streets causing huge traffic tailbacks on the road to Cork Airport. The RIA also claimed last night a protester assaulted their Cork-based official.

Gardaí were called to restore order.

A senior garda spokesman said two people were arrested on public order and obstruction charges. “There was a backlog on the road, but we cleared it quickly. We negotiated with the asylum-seekers and also present was a person from the Department of Justice.”

Talks between representatives of the Department of Justice and representatives of the asylum-seekers, who are predominantly African, are expected to take place today to discuss residents’ concerns. Gertrude Cotter, the coordinator of the Irish Immigrant Support Centre (NASC), said she had been told by people on the protest that quality of the food in the centre was unacceptable. She hopes to organise a meeting between the Irish Refugee Council, Integrating Ireland, centre residents and the Department to thrash out the issues.

Yesterday’s protest was the second staged by the reception centre’s residents. A group of 71 Muslim residents blocked the same road last October claiming their religious beliefs and civil liberties were being ignored.