Group refuses to call time on ‘wet house’ protest
The comments came after gardaí were twice called to the site of the planned development within a matter of hours on Tuesday morning to calm the long-standing dispute between the Mitchel Street Residents and Business Association group and private developers Arlington Novas.
Residents’ spokesperson Michael Walsh said the demonstration took place in an attempt to block the construction of the facility, which he said is taking money away from a service run by the Simon Community on the outskirts of town.
“We are not anti-homeless. What we are saying is this site is in the wrong place and will take away from the Simon Community centre,” Mr Walsh said. “It won’t be staffed when it’s built because of the HSE recruitment embargo, it is in an area where there are a lot of older residents, and if there is an incident on Mitchel Street it can take up to 20 minutes to get emergency services out to here.
“We also have concerns about Arlington Novas’s other centres in Limerick and other parts of Munster, which we’ve visited before and don’t have much faith in.”
Independent councillor Jim Ryan – who is due to discuss the stand-off at Friday’s North Tipperary County Council meeting – has also questioned how Arlington Novas was able to receive a€1 million grant from the Department of Environment through the council for the building of the centre without a tender process taking place.
Despite the claims, Arlington Novas has insisted the five-person facility is badly needed.
A spokesperson for the firm also claimed one member of its construction team was assaulted during the protest.
“Initially some local residents blocked access to the site but eventually were persuaded by the gardaí to withdraw,” the spokesperson alleged.
“The person, without any provocation, assaulted one of the builders and also caused damage to some of the equipment,” he said, adding that the company had no further comment to make.
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