'Every Tom, Dick, and Harry' from Cork City being sent to Glengarriff, claims councillor

Councillors heard locals were afraid to go for walks in the evening due to antisocial behaviour from residents of the emergency accommodation centre in the West Cork village

Independent Ireland councillor Danny Collins said residents and business owners in Glengarriff were concerned an emergency accommodation centre in the the village was being used as 'a dumping area' for people from Cork City and further afield. File picture: Dan Linehan

“Every Tom, Dick, and Harry” from Cork City and beyond is being sent to an emergency accommodation centre in the West Cork village of Glengarriff, leading to incidents of antisocial behaviour, according to a local county councillor.

The issue was raised by Independent Ireland councillor Danny Collins at a recent meeting of Cork County Council’s Western Division during discussions on a report on housing provision.

Mr Collins said residents and business owners in Glengarriff were concerned that an emergency accommodation centre in the the village was being used as “a dumping area” for people from Cork City and further afield.

Mr Collins said Glengarriff is a small tourist village and should not be used to house people from Cork City or further afield who have no connection to the area or West Cork. 

He said local people had contacted him about ongoing incidents of antisocial behaviour connected with the centre.

Mr Collins said the situation was so bad that some local people were afraid to go for walks in the evening and local businesses were threatening to withhold paying their rates until the issue was addressed.

Mr Collins added: “If somebody is homeless, surely they can be dealt with in that area. Could we write to Cork City Council about this?”

Council officials undertook to raise the issue at an upcoming meeting of the Regional Homeless Strategic Management Group.

This article is funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme