Mick Clifford: Coolock is 'fertile ground' to spread hate and intolerance
Plans to house up to 500 asylum seekers in the former Crown Paints factory have attracted legitimate questions, protests, and in the last week some pure thuggery perpetrated by a small minority. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
Last Sunday, Jarlath Burns touched on an essential component of the Irish DNA, that of empathy with the immigrant.
The president of the GAA was speaking at the conclusion of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final when he referred to the “people who are our diaspora, who left this country because of war and famine… and if your ancestors had to leave, you are in Croke Park today, if not in body but in spirit.”
Burns is shaping up to be an impressive leader.
He would have been acutely aware he was referencing those fleeing war and famine while a few miles from Croke Park serious social upheaval was taking place over the issue of housing such people.
Never forget, he might have added, once they were the Irish.
The violence and arson attacks perpetrated on and around the former Crown Paints factory in Coolock are a new low.
Plans to house up to 500 asylum seekers on the premises have attracted legitimate questions, protests, and in the last week some pure thuggery perpetrated by a small minority.
It has also become a major staging post for an element attempting to inflame opposition against those fleeing war and famine.
In such a milieu, one of the more concerning aspects has been the paucity of imagination and even common sense in Government policy.
There are two outstanding features to the handling of this affair which highlight major shortcomings in how the Government is dealing with one of the most serious issues of today.
Firstly, the locating of asylum seekers in a community suffering deprivation was regarded as an accommodation issue and little more.
In late March, the Department of Integration identified the site as suiting its requirements.
A few weeks later, in early April, a meeting was organised with local elected representatives and a few other individuals from community organisations.
They were informed of the plans, effectively given notice.
Meanwhile, sandwiched between identifying the site and meeting the politicians, the Government indicated a new approach to housing asylum seekers.
On March 27, a release announcing a “new comprehensive strategy” in this area was issued.
It was to include aspects such as to “plan more effectively for delivery of increased public services, where possible”, as part of a “multi-strand approach”.
This enlightened approach was nowhere to be seen in Coolock.
Apart from the initial engagement, there were no further attempts to liaise with the community or its representatives.
There was no request for any kind of report, laying out what services might come under further pressure due to the new arrivals.
There was no suggested programme of supports, or acknowledgement a disadvantaged community was now being asked to accommodate more, quite possibly, vulnerable people.
Coolock does much to help itself through the strands of disadvantage that infect an area of its socio-economic profile, but there are also effective and necessary programmes for which funding is not even at pre-2008 levels.
None of this was acknowledged and no offers were made, under the circumstances, to assist in lightening the load.
In the resulting vacuum, a protest camp was set up at the entrance to the site, opposition hardened, resentment increased.
By May 10, the protest camp was well established.
That day, on a visit to Fermoy, Taoiseach Simon Harris was asked about issues around accommodating asylum seekers.
He said he was determined to bring a “whole-of-Government” approach to what was a “very significant challenge”.
No such approach was taking place in Coolock.
Instead, it was regarded primarily as an accommodation issue in which a former factory was to be made habitable for vulnerable people once a decision was taken on when to remove the protest.
That move last week prompted a swelling of protest and kicked off the violence.
Had a "whole-of-Government" approach been taken, there would still, undoubtedly, have been those intent on thuggery, but Coolock could also have claimed a victory in terms of forcing the State to acknowledge it requires sufficient supports at all times, even if it took this for the Government to begin to act.
This, in turn, could isolate those whose motivation has nothing whatsoever to do with the welfare of the people of the area.
The vacuum that resulted saw outsiders, both thugs and political figures associated with the far right, move in to claim Coolock as the latest staging post from which to push their agenda.
One such politician was Malachy Steenson, elected to Dublin City Council last month.
He told the that talks were now being arranged but said the community would not allow the housing of asylum seekers one way or the other.
“The State can offer all it wants through the communities schemes but it won’t be accepted,” he said.
Mr Steenson represents the north inner city, miles away from the scene of the protests.
He doesn’t represent anybody in Coolock. Yet here he was, coming in and telling how it was going to be.
The other issue the whole case has highlighted is the continual use of private accommodation for international protection applicants.
It is now two-and-a-half years since an expert group led by Catherine Day recommended the setting up of six large, State-run reception centres, with a timeline of having two up and running by May 2023.
That didn’t happen.
Initially, the Government appeared not to have any intention of acting on the recommendation but following a spate of protests — and arson attacks — around the country, there is now acceptance that State-run facilities are the only way forward.
Recent reports suggest 30 sites have been identified by State agencies but nothing more concrete has been done.
All the signs are that the Government is putting this move on the long finger. As with other aspects of this issue, the general approach appears to be not to do anything until after the next general election.
If sites are selected and work begins, there is every chance there will be either a protest or a legal challenge.
Again, the resultant vacuum opens up huge plains of fertile ground for nefarious actors to spread their messages of hate and intolerance.
Addressing the issue would not be easy at any time.
Doing so when intolerance is rising across the world, and has reached these shores, makes it even more difficult.
But failure to properly get to grips with it is going to have long-term serious consequences.
The very least this country should be capable of is to retain some empathy for those fleeing war and famine.
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