A plan to house 1,000 male asylum seekers in Athlone, Co Westmeath, is the target of a High Court challenge brought by a local councillor with the support of four other local representatives.
Paul Hogan, who secured 4.8 per cent of the first-preference vote when running for Independent Ireland in Longford-Westmeath in the recent general election, claims the ministerial process providing for the plan is unlawful, irrational and a breach of fair procedures.
A fundraising website, currently recording 907 donations totalling €46,000, says a court challenge is being brought on behalf of Mr Hogan and four other Athlone-based representatives, including the now Independent TD Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran and councillors Frankie Keena and Aengus O’Rourke of Fianna Fáil and John Dolan of Fine Gael.
Protests were held recently in Athlone over a plan to develop accommodation for 1,000 asylum seekers in up to 150 tents on a site to the rear of an existing direction provision centre at Lissywollen. It is proposed that the tents would eventually be replaced with modular units.
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Mr Hogan’s legal papers rely on similar legal grounds to a challenge recently brought by a north Dublin group which secured a strike-down of a statutory instrument that had paved the way for 1,000 international protection applicants to be accommodated on a State-owned site near Dublin Airport.
Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman is contesting Mr Hogan’s case. Mr Hogan wants an order pausing or quashing the statutory instrument the Minister used for the Athlone site. This confirmed that the project did not need An Bord Pleanála’s approval and noted that Mr O’Gorman was satisfied two specific European Union law environmental assessments did not need to be conducted before proceeding with the plan.
Mr Hogan claims the Minister failed to adequately screen the project for potential environmental effects and that he lacks the expertise to carry out such assessments. There were also deficiencies in the assessment of wastewater requirements and the impact on traffic, Mr Hogan claims.
He says the occupants will be free to move about and will “inevitably cause a significant traffic hazard and a health and safety issue” next to the site and along the road.
Mr Justice Richard Humphreys granted permission on Monday for Mr Hogan to pursue his claims. The judge arranged for the case to be rapidly progressed to a hearing later this month.
Oisín Collins, senior barrister for Mr Hogan, said his client wants to get the issues resolved as quickly as possible.
Aoife Carroll, counsel for the Minister, said there would be “logistical difficulties” preparing paperwork in response to the claims and it would be “almost impossible” to be ready for the proposed date of December 19th. However, the judge proceeded to schedule the hearing and said the Minister’s legal team could short-circuit some of the normal rules regarding responding legal papers.
In an affidavit, Mr Hogan said local councillors were informed about the Government’s accommodation plan on October 7th and had “no prior consultation or communication” from the Department of Integration. He said Athlone had a long tradition of providing accommodation and support to people seeking international protection, with one of the first direct provision centres in the State constructed on the adjoining Lissywollen site in 2001.
Mr Hogan said he and other members of Westmeath County Council believed the proposed development would be “prejudicial to public health” as local health services are already overburdened.
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