The State wants to move my good Mayo friend into a tent in Clare
by Dr. Richard Martin
I MET my friend Michael Minassie a few days ago.
We usually bump into each other most days around the Mall in Castlebar.
After a few minutes of chitchat, I knew something was up. He was upset. I asked him what was going on.
He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and showed it to me. When I read it, I was upset. It was an eviction notice.
Michael lives on Spencer Street in a direct provision centre with other asylum seekers.
If an asylum seeker has been granted ‘status to remain in Ireland’, technically they can no longer domicile in a direct provision centre. They have to move out.
He ‘must now progress to independent accommodation in the community.’
Okay. Fair enough. But is there ‘accommodation’ in the community?
Michael wants to make the next step, but he can’t.
He’s working at McDonald’s five days a week. He’s eligible for HAP.
A quick Google search shows that there are five properties in Castlebar in which a room can be rented.
Landlords don’t want to see HAP coming at them, they want cash.
Cash is King. It’s the way of the world, you know. The bottom line is Michael can’t find independent accommodation, and it’s not for want of trying.
The letter is an eviction letter.
Have we really moved on from the days of British colonialism? It’s firm, direct, and cruel.
It states: "Owing to an urgent need, we must now ask you to move to independent alternative accommodation in the community within the next six weeks."
The letter then explains why Michael Minassie needs to be turfed out. It’s a legal requirement.
The IPAS accommodation centres need to have ‘sufficient space’ to house those seeking international protection.
In this lovely, compassionate letter (!), they save the best for last.
‘If you have been unsuccessful in sourcing alternative accommodation by 9/10/2024, IPAS will provide alternative temporary accommodation at Tented Accommodation, Knockalisheen, Co. Clare.’
So this is where we are after 100 years of freedom from the British crown.
It begs the question: are we really all that much better than our former colonial masters. I’m not so sure. It doesn’t look like it.
We have allowed an imperfect system to flourish on our beautiful island.
We take in people escaping war, terror, famine, and God knows what else, and then we move them around like a flock of sheep from field to field.
Michael Minassie and all the other IPAS asylum seekers are caught in a poverty trap. They have no freedom, choice, or say in the matter. Totally powerless.
There was a HIQA inspection in January of this year. At the time, there were 278 residents from 27 different countries living at Knockalisheen.
When the report was released in April, it stated that there were ‘significant deficits across all themes of the national standards.’
Knockalisheen Accommodation Centre was found to be non-compliant with 20 out of 27 of the national standards set out by legislation.
The report found that not all staff members were properly garda vetted, a large number of residents stated that they felt ‘unhappy’ and ‘unsafe’ at the centre and that tented accommodation could not promote the human rights of residents.
We allow private investors/landlords to shelter these vulnerable people while they make huge exorbitant profits from government contracts.
People like Michael Minassie who want to work hard to contribute to our community and want to integrate themselves into our community are then uprooted and moved like a flock of sheep to another part of the country.
In this town, some of the asylum seekers have been subjected to horrific hostility and racism from local ‘Irish Patriots’. It’s wrong, wrong, wrong.
Urgent legislative change is needed.
Recently, a major development to build 80 plus apartments in Castlebar was blocked in the middle of a disastrous housing crisis. There’s too much red tape today in our society.
Also, I don’t see much of the Christian virtues of love, equality and compassion in modern day Ireland.
Instead, I see poverty and misery. I see profit. I see greed. We have forgotten where we came from.
Our patron saint was a pilgrim and an immigrant. If St. Patrick were around today, he’d struggle to find refuge.
Watching the rise of the far-right over the last few years and seeing our Tricolor being debased in Belfast recently was shameful.
Some Coolock Says No activists joined their loyalist ‘brethern’ and both groups came together and waved the Tricolor and Union Jack in unison. Embarrassing. Disgusting.
Later that evening, our great ‘freedom fighters’ joined their new found loyalist buddies in a drinking den in Sandy Row.
Some of these loyalists went into Sean Graham Bookmakers’ on the Lower Ormeau Road in Belfast in 1992 and murdered five innocent Catholics. That same day, as our ‘warriors’ from Coolock walked past Sean Graham’s with their newfound friends, they gave a five-finger salute just to remind everyone present of the great heroic act.
In my view, the Irish far right are a joke and traitors to the Irish state.
I would implore anyone that is considering voting for any far-right thuggish candidates in the upcoming GE to please desist no matter how frustrated they are with the current government.
One of our founding fathers told us clearly: ”Let no Irishman throw a stone at the foreigner; he may hit his own clansman.” In the current climate, it would be foolish to ignore his words of wisdom.
The tragedy is that Michael Minassie has embedded himself in our community.
He volunteers. He works. He brings culture and diversity.
Soon, he could be moved into a tent.
(Dr. Richard Martin is a regular columnist with The Connaught Telegraph).