2nd August 2024
Rumours have been circulating for the last two weeks alleging that the former Ben Dunne Gym site above Lidl at Ballyowen Castle Shopping Centre is being repurposed as an International Protection centre, with various people saying they heard that beds were being put in for 300-400 people.
These rumours are FALSE
I had already told people contacting me that there's no application for change of use exemption under emergency legislation at this location and the current planning designation would not permit this type of centre to be provided here as it stands otherwise.
However the rumours continued and as such I also reached out to Lidl Ireland for clarification their end. They got back to me today to say the following:
"We can confirm that Lidl have owned the site in Ballyowen for more than 20 years having leased it out to Ben Dunne Gyms for a period. Since that lease ended, we have invested in fitting out the space for office use and product testing and it is used exclusively by Lidl."
Given this statement and given that a change of use planning application would need to be granted, or else an exemption applied for under emergency legislation, this rumour can be put to bed.
If anyone comes across any more misinformation being shared about this location, please send them the link to this article so we can hopefully stop it spreading further.
There’s a lot of rumours that float around about various buildings being repurposed for IP, and most of them are not true, eg Finnstown Country House Hotel last year (which is a homeless hub and where I separately raised issues on behalf of residents there last year), Lucan House (former Italian embassy residence) and now the former Ben Dunne Gym.
These rumours spread like wildfire and notwithstanding various reasoned views being expressed about the flaws in our asylum process, the need to upgrade our immigration system, or indeed the wisdom of putting large numbers of single males in locations with no services provided or activities planned, they also tend to attract the most obnoxious, dehumanising and hateful comments from people with an agenda.
The strategy of such individuals is to deliberately generate fear through misinformation and disinformation, largely aimed at a wide variety of people not born in Ireland or whose skin colour is darker. This puts many of our friends and neighbours living and working here at risk of verbal and online abuse and sometimes physical harm. Some of these posts originate from abroad (as per this news article https://mobileapp.irishtimes.com/ireland/2024/08/03/international-far-right-rushes-to-aid-irish-anti-immigration-protesters-with-money-tactics-and-propaganda/)
Such comments of course also dehumanise those fleeing persecution who are entitled to seek refuge here under international law as well as those economic migrants who are seeking better lives for themselves, irrespective of whether they should be using the asylum process to do so.
People are entitled to raise concerns about certain locations being used for International Protection and also to criticise the Government and agencies for not providing information or engaging with local communities, but we also have a responsibility to try and stick to the facts.
Where there are plans for such facilities, I have tried to keep people informed and will continue to do so:
I will obviously be an advocate for the local community in terms of suitability of any buildings and resourcing in all situations, but there’s also always a need to be sensitive and respectful.
Accurate information can of course be helpful in this regard.
ENDS
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