To be fair Kinnegad, from my memory at least, is little more than one street and doesn’t seem a suitable location for that many asylum seekers
Reading the comments , their a snapchat story where apparently a 14 girl was physically assaulted, there was no arrest made so highly likely to be bullshit.
That was a lot of text for 2 lines of information
Are Labour trying to appeal to the far right now or is this guy just an outlier in the party?
I wouldn’t want a 10% population increase in my town overnight either especially when they are all men
How is it dangerous though?
He’s not wrong like…
He is not wrong when he says that people have concerns. Suddenly adding 150 people is going to put a lot of additional pressure on already stretched public services. Having concerns does not make a person totalitarian.
However, it is odd how he calls for a policing response?
Is there something about the age/gender make up of the 150 that has caused some concern or is it something else?
“We must show community outrage at this”
They’re supposed to represent people not use people as pawns to give credence to their own bullshit.
This is happening up and down the country, nobody will care until it happens in their area.
You didnt think NIMBY-ism wouldnt quickly poke its ugly head with the Ukrainian response?
We all want to help! Just dont put them here. Think of the effect on traffic! The School places!
The lines in Tesco! The darker skinned people are making me feel afraid!
So I hear you’re a Raaacist now father.
Should we all be racist now?
What’s the official line Labour is taking on this?
It’s just the farm takes up most of me time during the day and at night I like an aul cup of tea.
I mightnt be fit to devout meself full time to the old racism…
Poor Ukrainians have they not been through enough. Now they’re sent to kinnegad. Poor bastards.
From Denis Leonard on Facebook:
Below is my letter to Minister OGorman on the Kinnegad asylum seeker issue Anyone writing to him or our local TDs should be sure to outline the urgency of the situation being dealt with immediately for the sake of the kinnegad community and indeed for many of the asylum seekers themselves.
Dear Minister O’Gorman,
I am writing to you about your decision, through IPAS, to move in 150 single male asylum seekers to
Kinnegad last weekend without any consultation with our local community or Westmeath County
Council.
Westmeath Council and the Kinnegad community have played their part over many years in housing
immigrants and refugees in our country, including a massive response to the recent Ukrainian crisis. We
have always played our part, but this situation is very different.
We are a very small town with very limited community facilities, no indoor sports building, no library, no communal buildings, no adult education provision, and a tiny town park. Added to the pressure is the fact that there is nothing to do for 150 men who are not working and have no activity organised within the hotel. This arrangement is not suitable for the local community, nor is it suitable for the men who have been moved in overnight.
The hotel had been housing many foreign workers in recent months. These men never caused any
trouble within the community. They, without any warning or consultation, were asked to leave the hotel to accommodate this large group.
The hotel is not equipped for 150 single men. The new arrivals are complaining constantly about the
lack of food, facilities, and intimidation by certain members within their own group.
Kinnegad has only 4 full-time Gardai and a part-time station which means when incidents happen, they must come from Mullingar 12 miles away or further afield. There have been numerous incidents reported over the weekend from a certain element among these arrivals and the Gardai find it difficult to deal with the volume of complaints. This has left most residents of Kinnegad feeling unsafe walking around their own community.
This arrangement is simply not suitable, nor sustainable. Your office needs to act immediately on this issue for the sake of both Kinnegad as a community and for the safety and wellbeing of the asylum seekers themselves, who are being bullied and intimidated by some men within the group.
There must be a more suitable location for a group of this size that needs to be facilitated more
appropriately and humanely; and those who are intimidating the other men within the group, and within the community need to be dealt with as a matter of urgency.
Sincerely,
Cllr Denis Leonard
Sorca Clarke will be relieved he spelled her name, and thus her email, wrong.
He was a teacher when I was in school (left 15 years ago). Was a nice man if a bit of a pushover. Found his voice now all the same.
Why all the hate for Ukraine?
All men who will most likely hold views that oppose Western values just suddenly showing up to your town.
He’ll either retract this statement or be removed from labour. About time a politician from an established party has said something about the utter lunacy that is happening in this country, it’s just disappointing it has to happen in someone’s locality for them to find the balls to speak out
Jesus have little fucking compassion for the asylum seekers you privileged children.
The stupidity of housing so many of these guys in a tiny town is unthinkable.
They shouldn’t be allowed entry to the country because of how incompatible their culture is with ours.
Allready, so many stories of them being inappropriate and fighting and it’s only a few days.
A 14 yr old was assaulted in the last week, women are afraid. Its very bad planning to put 150 syrian men in small village 😕 crazy
Where is the men from? Wasnt the ukranian men staying back to fight for their country? Any is these hotels full of single men. There’s a hotel in my town full with single men.
Checked the towns Facebook page. Basically, loads of unsubstantiated reports of the refugees filming on their phones near playgrounds or stealing something from a shop fueled the usual Facebook mass hysteria from aul wans/fellas so people started tagged their mate the local councillor, who promptly took time out from getting the parish pump mended.
All likely caused by a few bad eggs mixed with small town xenophobia. The right will jump on it but there’s little evidence of anything.
26 comments
To be fair Kinnegad, from my memory at least, is little more than one street and doesn’t seem a suitable location for that many asylum seekers
Reading the comments , their a snapchat story where apparently a 14 girl was physically assaulted, there was no arrest made so highly likely to be bullshit.
That was a lot of text for 2 lines of information
Are Labour trying to appeal to the far right now or is this guy just an outlier in the party?
I wouldn’t want a 10% population increase in my town overnight either especially when they are all men
How is it dangerous though?
He’s not wrong like…
He is not wrong when he says that people have concerns. Suddenly adding 150 people is going to put a lot of additional pressure on already stretched public services. Having concerns does not make a person totalitarian.
However, it is odd how he calls for a policing response?
Is there something about the age/gender make up of the 150 that has caused some concern or is it something else?
“We must show community outrage at this”
They’re supposed to represent people not use people as pawns to give credence to their own bullshit.
This is happening up and down the country, nobody will care until it happens in their area.
Labour support this.
Sort by controversy
Best regards,
Regarding the gardai in the post , apparently someone was filming children in the playground , This could be far right activism so read with a pinch of salt [https://www.facebook.com/whatshappeninginkinnegad/posts/pfbid0id4iLjC53V4J6HqKpkUaWSGYcKvcQZ3xE1bnwjx9Fcb9GBCG9V3VuXCjfdSRZHNRl](https://www.facebook.com/whatshappeninginkinnegad/posts/pfbid0id4iLjC53V4J6HqKpkUaWSGYcKvcQZ3xE1bnwjx9Fcb9GBCG9V3VuXCjfdSRZHNRl)
You didnt think NIMBY-ism wouldnt quickly poke its ugly head with the Ukrainian response?
We all want to help! Just dont put them here. Think of the effect on traffic! The School places!
The lines in Tesco! The darker skinned people are making me feel afraid!
So I hear you’re a Raaacist now father.
Should we all be racist now?
What’s the official line Labour is taking on this?
It’s just the farm takes up most of me time during the day and at night I like an aul cup of tea.
I mightnt be fit to devout meself full time to the old racism…
Poor Ukrainians have they not been through enough. Now they’re sent to kinnegad. Poor bastards.
From Denis Leonard on Facebook:
Below is my letter to Minister OGorman on the Kinnegad asylum seeker issue Anyone writing to him or our local TDs should be sure to outline the urgency of the situation being dealt with immediately for the sake of the kinnegad community and indeed for many of the asylum seekers themselves.
Dear Minister O’Gorman,
I am writing to you about your decision, through IPAS, to move in 150 single male asylum seekers to
Kinnegad last weekend without any consultation with our local community or Westmeath County
Council.
Westmeath Council and the Kinnegad community have played their part over many years in housing
immigrants and refugees in our country, including a massive response to the recent Ukrainian crisis. We
have always played our part, but this situation is very different.
We are a very small town with very limited community facilities, no indoor sports building, no library, no communal buildings, no adult education provision, and a tiny town park. Added to the pressure is the fact that there is nothing to do for 150 men who are not working and have no activity organised within the hotel. This arrangement is not suitable for the local community, nor is it suitable for the men who have been moved in overnight.
The hotel had been housing many foreign workers in recent months. These men never caused any
trouble within the community. They, without any warning or consultation, were asked to leave the hotel to accommodate this large group.
The hotel is not equipped for 150 single men. The new arrivals are complaining constantly about the
lack of food, facilities, and intimidation by certain members within their own group.
Kinnegad has only 4 full-time Gardai and a part-time station which means when incidents happen, they must come from Mullingar 12 miles away or further afield. There have been numerous incidents reported over the weekend from a certain element among these arrivals and the Gardai find it difficult to deal with the volume of complaints. This has left most residents of Kinnegad feeling unsafe walking around their own community.
This arrangement is simply not suitable, nor sustainable. Your office needs to act immediately on this issue for the sake of both Kinnegad as a community and for the safety and wellbeing of the asylum seekers themselves, who are being bullied and intimidated by some men within the group.
There must be a more suitable location for a group of this size that needs to be facilitated more
appropriately and humanely; and those who are intimidating the other men within the group, and within the community need to be dealt with as a matter of urgency.
Sincerely,
Cllr Denis Leonard
Sorca Clarke will be relieved he spelled her name, and thus her email, wrong.
He was a teacher when I was in school (left 15 years ago). Was a nice man if a bit of a pushover. Found his voice now all the same.
Why all the hate for Ukraine?
All men who will most likely hold views that oppose Western values just suddenly showing up to your town.
He’ll either retract this statement or be removed from labour. About time a politician from an established party has said something about the utter lunacy that is happening in this country, it’s just disappointing it has to happen in someone’s locality for them to find the balls to speak out
Jesus have little fucking compassion for the asylum seekers you privileged children.
The stupidity of housing so many of these guys in a tiny town is unthinkable.
They shouldn’t be allowed entry to the country because of how incompatible their culture is with ours.
Allready, so many stories of them being inappropriate and fighting and it’s only a few days.
A 14 yr old was assaulted in the last week, women are afraid. Its very bad planning to put 150 syrian men in small village 😕 crazy
Where is the men from? Wasnt the ukranian men staying back to fight for their country? Any is these hotels full of single men. There’s a hotel in my town full with single men.
Checked the towns Facebook page. Basically, loads of unsubstantiated reports of the refugees filming on their phones near playgrounds or stealing something from a shop fueled the usual Facebook mass hysteria from aul wans/fellas so people started tagged their mate the local councillor, who promptly took time out from getting the parish pump mended.
All likely caused by a few bad eggs mixed with small town xenophobia. The right will jump on it but there’s little evidence of anything.