Latest news with #IPAS
RTÉ News
a day ago
- RTÉ News
Investigation into incident at Dublin city schoolyard
A teenager was arrested and a garda investigation is under way after an incident in a schoolyard in Dublin's south inner city this week. According to eyewitnesses, a teenage boy wielding a knife chased a man on to the grounds of St James's Primary School on Basin View lane in Dublin 8, and punched and threatened him, before being confronted by staff at the school who managed to get the boy out of the schoolyard. The teenager returned with an older woman a few minutes later and shouted obscenities at the man, who is a foreign national. He also shouted "Dublin 8 says no". Three weeks ago an encampment was set up close to the school on Basin View, by anti-immigration protesters who are objecting to the opening of a second IPAS centre on the lane. Under tricolours, protesters have hung a large banner which reads 'D8 says no'. This is the name those involved have given to their campaign. The encampment is close to two primary schools and one secondary school on the narrow city thoroughfare which is nestled between the new children's hospital and the Guinness complex. Signs have also been hung which say 'Keep our children safe'. The attack at the school took place shortly before 9pm on Wednesday morning and was witnessed by a number of children who had yet to enter the school building, as well as their parents. According to eyewitnesses the boy shouted about 'paedophiles' as he attacked the man. It is understood that the man was waiting outside the school as a friend who was with him dropped off his child. Gardaí, including the Armed Support Unit, attended the scene and the boy was arrested a short time later and detained before being released. An Garda Síochána said: "Gardaí attended the scene of an alleged assault and public order incident at Basin Street, Dublin 8 on Wednesday 28th May 2025 at approximately 8.45am. "A male youth was arrested in relation to the incident. He has since been released and a file will now be prepared for the Garda Youth Diversion Programme." Under the Children's Act it is for the Garda Youth Diversion Programme to decide whether or not the file should be sent on to the DPP for prosecution in the courts. Gardaí say their investigation is ongoing. The anti-immigration encampment is directly beside and facing the entrance to a second primary school, Canal Way Educate Together. It is outside a premises which is currently being converted into residential accommodation with a view to housing asylum seekers. An adjacent building already houses around 20 people seeking International Protection. Wednesday's attack follows rising tensions locally over recent weeks as a result of the encampment and concern as to its potential impact. Protest 'hijacked', locals say Locals say the protest was originally established by local parents who are opposed to a second Direct Provision centre opening on the lane and say the area has been neglected for too long and has very few services, but locals say this original protest has been "hijacked" by others with sinister motives. "The protest has been hijacked by people who are trying to stir up hate and racism and this [attack] is a direct result of their actions," one person told RTÉ News. "That innocent gentleman who was just waiting for another parent was attacked and could have been stabbed or badly injured," they added. Speaking about the encampment a parent said: "It's absolutely intimidating. There's dogs, there's drugs - you can smell the stench of weed. The whole thing is absolutely intimidating for children and families." Of the attack that took place in the schoolyard on Wednesday the parent said: "Everybody is rattled". Also on Wednesday, a number of local organisations, including Basin View's two primary schools, met to discuss their concerns about rising tensions. The meeting was arranged before the attack happened. On Thursday, the organisations jointly published a leaflet. The leaflet states: "We are concerned by the small minority who intimidate children, parents, teachers, and workers. We want this intimidation to stop we want to work with you to make it stop. "We are writing this because we care about the safety of our community and believe that misinformation, hate and violence have no place here. We believe everyone here deserves to be safe, no matter the color of their skin." Warning that what is happening is "hurting children", the leaflet says: "Fear, lies and panic spread very easily on social media, and lead to people being targeted based on the color of their skin."
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Tensions in Wexford over controversial placards as Gardai ‘continue to monitor situation'
Among the subjects broached on the signs are 'Chinese nail shops' which he claims are putting indigenous operations out of business and are breaching employment law. Long a source of frustration, and one which has been raised by elected representatives in the past, the protestor also targeted organised begging gangs operating in the town. 'They are not homeless,' his sign claims. 'They have never presented themselves as homeless in the town. They are professional beggars which is against the law.' Another placard points to an apparent growth in popularity of the name Muhammad in the UK, claiming 'this is Ireland's future in 15 to 20 years if we don't act now'. Having received complaints before, Gardaí on patrol confronted the man this week, pointing out that many could be of the opinion that the sentiments expressed on the placards are offensive. The man and some supporters around him became quite frustrated by the intervention of gardaí, stating their belief that the language was not offensive and that no crime was being committed. "Gardaí were getting real abuse,' one onlooker said. 'Fair dues to them for keeping calm in the situation. They were getting abuse for not dealing with 'real criminals'.' A garda source confirmed: "Gardaí on beat patrol happened upon this guy again. They explained to the man involved that the signs may be seen as offensive by some. We had received complaints previously. "We've had a couple of engagements with him and we are actively monitoring the situation.' In attendance on this occasion, filming the encounter was the self-dubbed 'Ordinary Irishman', Gearóid Kelly, from Camross, Co Wexford, who has made several outlandish and inaccurate claims about IPAS centres via his YouTube channel in the past, most notably claiming that Johnstown Castle was to be converted into refugee accommodation. Introducing himself as Hugh Fagan, the protestor outlined his gripe with 'the Roma beggars in the town'. "They're not homeless, they are professionally begging,' he said. 'There's four of them in it together.' He then goes on to make outlandish claims on the Roma community as a whole stating 'their culture consists of robbing, professional begging and sex trafficking'. On the subject of Chinese owned nail bars he said: 'They don't hire any Irish and Wexford town is really suffering. When one shop opens, two shops close and these don't hire any Irish.' Having been approached by gardaí, Mr Fagan also stated: 'There is no hate speech in a free society, there's just speech. It's okay to be offended. It's just another person's opinion. The reaction I've had has been brilliant. I've only had three issues, so the support is there.' When confronted by a passer-by who disagreed with his signs, Mr Fagan stated: 'There's nothing racist on here. Do you have an issue with free speech? You want people to be censored just because you don't like it?' Turning towards the gardaí, he said: 'You'd arrest me if people weren't here wouldn't you? You would. You'd move me on and you'd speak to me differently." Concerns over organised begging gangs operating in Wexford town centre are nothing new. Back when he was Mayor of Wexford, now Labour TD George Lawlor said that there was a problem with 'aggressive, in-your-face, intimidating begging' in the town. "It's not illegal to beg in Ireland,' he said at the time. 'But it is illegal to be involved in organised begging, which is clearly the case when these people arrive into town in an organised manner.' Just prior to his election to Dáil Éireann, Deputy Lawlor even suggested a 'permit system for ordinary decent beggars' to differentiate them from organised gangs.
Sunday World
2 days ago
- Sunday World
Funeral details announced for second Donegal drowning victim
The tragic teenager was a pupil of Crana College, Matt Sibanda was preparing to sit his Leaving Certificate exams in June. Matt Sibanda, 18, will be laid to rest following his funeral mass this Saturday. Matt was one of two teenagers who died when they got into difficulty while swimming off Buncrana on May 10th last. His friend, Emmanuel Familola, 16, was laid to rest on 17th May. The Buncrana and African Caribbean communities will come together to say a final farewell to Matt this Saturday. Matt Sibanda (18) News in 90 Seconds - May 29th It is understood Matt's family were awaiting for members to travel to Ireland for Matt's funeral. His funeral mass will take place this Saturday at 9.30am at St Mary's Oratory, Buncrana, followed by burial at Cockhill Cemetery. His remains will be reposing in St Mary's Oratory Buncrana from Friday evening from 7pm to 10pm. The tragic teenager was a pupil of Crana College, Matt was preparing to sit his Leaving Certificate exams in June. He was originally from Zimbabwe, but had been living in a local IPAS centre with his family including his mother Bonnie and his younger sister. A notice from the African Caribbean Community Network said: "We kindly ask all members of the African Caribbean Community Network to avail themselves for Matt's funeral this Saturday. Let us stand in unity, love, and compassion as we lay him to rest and show our unwavering support to the Sibanda family during this incredibly difficult time."
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- General
- Irish Independent
Tipperary property will not become IPAS centre despite change of use application
A Section 5 planning exemption has been submitted to Tipperary County Council for a property on the Old Road in Cashel, with rumours spreading on social media that the property is to be used as accommodation for International Protection Applicants. Taking to his own social media page, Cashel councillor Liam Browne has moved to clarify that there are no plans to build or develop an IPAS centre at the Old Road property. "The application is seeking to change the use of an existing residential house, to a residential care facility. Nothing new will be built on the site, without a full planning application,' Cllr Browne outlined. The change of use application states that the applicants are applying for 'a declaration of exempted development … regarding the change of use from residential to provide a residential care facility for children at risk, including those with learning difficulties.' "The number of residents will not exceed six, and the number of carers will not exceed two,' the planning file states. 'The new owners of the building, are a company called Odyssey Social Care. They provide care to children with physical, mental and learning disabilities," Mr Browne added. "The current proposal is to provide such care at the property. The occupants would only be children, ie, under 18, and the maximum number of children would be 6, with 2 carers". Tipperary County Council have written to the applicants to ensure that only children with disabilities will be housed at the site, and not anyone else. Odyssey Social Care do provide care for unaccompanied minors within the International Protection system, but it is not thought that the Cashel site would be used for this purpose, Cllr Browne added.
RTÉ News
23-05-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Directors of IPAS centre management firm shared €4.68m last year
Two directors at one of the biggest operators in the International Protection (IP) applicant accommodation sector last year shared a €4.68m jackpot in pay and pension contributions. In the second half alone of last year, Igo Cafe Ltd trading as IGO Emergency Management Services received €29.9m (incl VAT) in State payments for accommodating IP applicants. The Dún Laoghaire-based company is co-owned by directors Ann Murphy and Cristina Andries on a 50/50 basis and in 2024, the two shared €4.68m in remuneration and pension contributions. The Government spent €1bn on accommodating IP applicants last year. The new accounts for Igo Cafe Ltd show that the two directors shared €3.779m in pay and an additional €910,000 in pension contributions. If evenly split, the €3.779m works at €1.889m each for 2024 which equates to average pay of €36,346 per week for each. The €3.77m in pay is almost three times the €1.3m the pair shared in pay in 2023. The accounts show that the company recorded post tax profits of €1.3m last year which was a 48.5% increase on the post tax profits of €882,126 in 2023. Numbers employed increased from 31 to 77 last year while accumulated profits at the end of December stood at €2.28m as cash funds totalled €1.24m. The cash funds of €1.24m compared to only €1,158 in cash in the company at the end of 2019. A spokeswoman for the Dept of Justice said today that IGO Emergency Management Services "are a facilities management provider at four International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) accommodation centres". She said: "The Department does not routinely provide details of IPAS Accommodation Centre locations or occupancy levels. "While detailed contractual arrangements for IPAS centres are confidential and commercially sensitive, the Department publishes quarterly reports on all payments to service providers over €20,000, which include IPAS accommodation contracts for this and other providers." She said that these reports are publicly available online. She said: "IGO Emergency Management Services are not a facilities management provider for Ukraine Temporary Protection scheme." Meanwhile, the Government spend on accommodating IP applicants came to €1bn last year, after €280m was spent in the final quarter. The €1bn spend was a 54% increase on the €651.75m paid out in 2023. Last year, the Government spent a total of €1.84bn on accommodation for IP applicants and Ukrainians. The outlay equates to a daily average spend of €5m across 2024.
