A rural Limerick village that was mooted to host up to 35 asylum seekers lacks services and public transport, Minister for Higher Education Patrick O’Donovan has said.
The Department of Integration’s plan to use the site of a former nursing home in Tournafulla for international protection applicants was stalled after Mr O’Donovan and other elected representatives raised concerns.
Officials from the department told politicians earlier this month that after matters were raised by local representatives it was “endeavouring to provide greater clarity” before issuing a further update. No final decision has been taken on the centre’s use.
Responding to questions while at the National Ploughing Championships on Wednesday, Mr O’Donovan said it is his “duty as a constituency TD in the first instance to articulate, on behalf of the people who elect me, difficulties and issues as they arise”.
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This was what he was doing when he spoke with his Cabinet colleague, Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman, about the proposal, he said.
Mr O’Donovan said he and all of the other Co Limerick TDs attended a meeting several weeks ago about the proposed use of the former nursing home.
“Tournafulla is a very small village. There are no services. There is no bus network. There would be, as a result of this proposal, no shop,” he said.
He noted there had been a media report of “some sort of row” between him and Mr O’Gorman.
“I can categorically say there was no row between Minister O’Gorman and myself on this issue. I simply did what the other Oireachtas members in the constituency did, which was to bring to the department’s attention the deficits with regard to basic infrastructure in the village of Tournafulla,” he said.
The property, formerly known as Lir Retirement Home, is located at Maughton’s Cross in Tournafulla, east of Abbeyfeale and near the border with Co Cork.
Providing accommodation to asylum seekers has proved difficult and politically divisive. The Government has struggled to find spaces amid a surge in the number of people seeking protection in Ireland.
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