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Dan Fogelberg

Same Old Lang Syne

Hundreds Of Migrants To Be Moved From Dublin To Westmeath

Thursday, 30 May 2024 07:46

Up to 600 International Protection Applicants could be heading to sites in Athlone and Mullingar.

Six sites across the country have been earmarked for migrants arriving here, in a bid to take pressure off Dublin.

The government also plans to open a new asylum-processing centre outside the capital.

A new strategy to house hundreds of migrants arriving in Dublin will see centres opened in the likes of Kerry, Westmeath and Athlone.

The plans include prefab units for 200 people at a former military barracks in Mullingar and space for 400 at a site in Athlone.

In Dublin, capacity at Crooksling is to be doubled according to the Irish Independent while around a hundred asylum seekers will be housed in Ballyogan in the coming days.

The plan also includes the use of Thornton Hall in north Dublin, that's expected to be operational in the coming weeks.

The paper also reports a new International Protection Office is to be opened outside of Dublin.

Olivia Headon is a migration expert and has been helping asylum seekers - she says emergency accommodation is badly needed:

Meanwhile a major operation involving a number of agencies got underway this morning to remove tents from Dublin's Grand Canal.

It's the third such clearance along the waterway in recent weeks, with more than 500 men transferred from the site to facilities elsewhere.

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