About 100 asylum-seekers from eight countries are settling quietly into the controversial centre in Athlone, Co Westmeath, where local Travelling families objected to the development earlier this year.
The site, at Lissywollan beside the Department of Education headquarters on the outskirts of Athlone, is beside a halting site which has traditionally been used by the Travelling community. While welcoming the asylum-seekers, they objected to the development on the grounds that they had been seeking additional accommodation for their own people in the area and it had not been forthcoming and that the site was unsuitable for such a centre.
It was learned this week that talks between local families and the Departments of Justice and the Environment and the local authorities, are continuing. The first group of asylum-seekers was officially welcomed to the area by officials from Athlone Urban District Council last weekend, led by its chairman, Mr John Butler. They are from Nigeria, Romania, the Czech Republic, the Congo, Libya, Macedonia, Poland and the Ivory Coast. Most of them had been in the country for only a few weeks.
A further 300 are expected before the end of this month, which should see the centre's 100 mobile homes filled, according to a spokesman there.
The centre is estimated to have cost between £3 million and £4 million. There is a service unit building with a dining hall, games room and a television and a laundry room. A children's playground is also planned. A bus service, which will give access to the town centre nearly three miles from the site, began operating last Monday.
The Midland Health Board has arranged medical care and local voluntary groups and clubs are willing to help the visitors to integrate.