'At least people have beds' — Asylum seekers glad to move from Dublin to Páirc Uí Chaoimh

'The conditions here are much better than Dublin... And people are nicer,' one asylum seeker told 'Irish Examiner' reporter Liz Dunphy. File Picture: Larry Cummins 

Sitting alone on a bench outside Cork’s Páirc Uí Chaoimh stadium, Steve from the Congo said that there were “many, many reasons” why he left his homeland.

Safety and peace were among them. Looking nervous and slightly worn, he said that his life was in danger in the Congo and he had to get out.

Although he knows no one in Ireland, he had heard it was a “good country”.

Steve is one of approximately 80 asylum seekers who were brought to the 45,000-person capacity GAA stadium in Ballintemple, a suburb of Cork City on Tuesday. They are to be housed there for four weeks.

Asylum seekers happy to be there

Steve said that he is happy to be there. He has a single camp bed in a large room alongside many other people and is fed three good meals a day.

But life is uncertain for Steve. He has been warned that Páirc Uí Chaoimh is a brief stopover, a four-week period of peace during his long journey to claim asylum in Ireland.

Cork GAA has agreed to provide its stadium facilities on a pro bono rental basis until September 23.

The international protection applicants now staying there are understood to be from a range of countries, including Afghanistan, Somalia, Algeria and Georgia.

The group will be accommodated in large function rooms at the Blackrock end of the southern stand in space previously used by the HSE as a Covid-19 vaccination clinic.

Games and functions at the venue will continue as normal.

Another man now staying there who asked not to be named said that conditions in Páirc Uí Chaoimh are much better than in Citywest in Dublin.

Lives in limbo

Sharing the space with hundreds of people, William — not his real name — said that he slept on narrow chairs for more than 30 nights. 

His friend, Arthur, not his real name, showed the Irish Examiner photos of them sleeping on metal frame upholstered chairs in a large room where other asylum seekers lay curled into foetal positions under sheets or sat hunched over tables. 

Their lives have been in limbo since they arrived into Dublin Airport in a bid to claim asylum 44 days ago.

“At first we were in the airport for eight days with no shower, disgusting bathrooms, sleeping on floors. Then we were moved to Citywest. There were about 800 people and only half the people had beds. I was sleeping on chairs,” William said.

The conditions here are much better than Dublin. At least here people have beds. And people are nicer.

“I’m glad we have a food and a bed but we don’t have a PPS number or an address so we can’t get on with a normal life. If they were expecting this situation with no housing why did they allow us to come and seek asylum?

“We’re just sitting ducks until we can get a PPS.”

William said that security at the Páirc Uí Chaoimh centre is tight.

Asylum seekers are allowed to leave between 8am — 10pm daily but their identity is checked rigorously by security guards every time they enter or exit the building.

In addition to some 44,000 Ukrainian refugees arriving in Ireland to escape war this year, more than 7,000 people have arrived seeking international protection.