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The Journal
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Journal
Philip Dwyer loses appeal against trespass conviction at direct provision centre
CAMPAIGNER PHILIP DWYER trespassed at a direct provision centre for International Protection (IP) applicants at Inch in Co Clare where residents were being besieged by protesters outside the property, a court has heard. At Ennis Circuit Court this evening, Judge Francis Comerford upheld the trespass conviction imposed on Dwyer, an anti-immigrant activist, at Magowna House on 18 May 2023. Described in court by his counsel Anne Doyle BL as a 'Citizen Journalist', Dwyer (56) of Tallaght Cross West, Tallaght, Dublin 24 was appealing the district court trespass conviction imposed in March and Judge Comerford also affirmed the district court fine of €500. Dwyer told the court that he was at Magowna House to ask questions in his role as a journalist. Judge Comerford said that Dwyer 'might be entitled to make enquiries and go to someone's door, but he went well beyond it here'. At the time, there were protests at Magowna House where 29 International Protection applicants were being accommodated and there were blockades on local roads which were attracting media attention. Judge Comerford said that a group of people here came to seek refuge 'and were brought by the State to a relatively isolated, rural location where they were alone and away from a lot of resources and facilities'. 'And in effect, they were besieged in the premises they were brought to,' the judge said. 'It was made absolutely clear to them that they weren't welcome and there were protesters outside the property and there were bales of hay blocking access to prevent others joining them.' He said that there were 30 or 40 protesters protesting against their presence. Judge Comerford said that the big difference between Dwyer and protesters outside was that he went inside the property, where the other protesters didn't. Advertisement Judge Comerford said that he accepted the evidence of the Manager of Magowna House at the time, Ahlam Salman who said that Dwyer's presence on the property made her feel 'afraid'. Video footage made by Dwyer was played to the court, where he can be heard saying that he had arrived at a 'people trafficking centre'. In the footage shown in court, Dwyer can be heard saying, 'these are all foreign people telling me what I can't do in my own country'. Dwyer can be seen addressing a Ukrainian man wearing a fluorescent jacket: 'Do you think Irish people are stupid? Do you think we are all idiots? I wouldn't blame you, to be honest with you.' He asks later: 'What is your problem? You are not in Ukraine, this is my country…What are you hiding? I am just asking questions on behalf of the people of Ireland. The people in this country are very concerned about this.' After seeing some men believed to be International Protection applicants staying at the centre, Mr Dwyer asks: 'Why are these people covering their faces….This is Ireland. This is my country.' Counsel for the State Sarah Jane Comerford BL (instructed by State Solicitor for Clare, Aisling Casey) said to Dwyer that his words 'had a menacing undertone' to the people to whom he spoke on the property. In response, Dwyer said: 'I wasn't menacing to anybody.' He said: 'I 100% stand over those comments. We all have to respect one another. I tried to be respectful when I went in there.' He said: 'I was treated very badly. I was treated with hostility… I felt quite intimidated as well. That is part of the job.' He went on to tell the court: 'I have thousands of viewers, sometimes hundreds of thousands.' Counsel for Dwyer, Anne Doyle BL, said that she was not instructed by her client not to enter any mitigation concerning penalty 'as my client stands by his actions', Doyle said that 'he maintains that he was working in the course of his duties and does not accept the verdict'.
Irish Times
04-07-2025
- General
- Irish Times
‘I'm so scared': Families left in limbo after being told they need to leave IPAS centres
A number families currently living in International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centres in Dublin are worried they will have nowhere to live after being informed they need to leave their current accommodation in the coming days. Several families living in IPAS centres in Inchicore Suites, Dublin 8, and the Red Cow Hotel in Clondalkin, Dublin 22, were previously informed that they needed to leave their accommodation by Friday, July 4th. The families in question have been granted asylum status so are free to remain in Ireland but have struggled to find alternative accommodation, despite their efforts in recent months. A number of families received letters in March advising them that, as they have permission to remain in Ireland, IPAS can no longer accommodate them due to the huge demand on their services. READ MORE The letters, seen by The Irish Times, state: 'Owing to the urgent need, we must now ask you to move to independent alternative accommodation in the community on Friday 4th July 2025. This step is required to ensure that there is sufficient space in IPAS accommodation centres to meet our legal obligation of housing those people still in the process of seeking International Protection.' The letter also states that, if people have been unable to secure alternative accommodation by Friday, IPAS 'may provide alternative temporary emergency accommodation'. However, it adds: 'Given the limitations on IPAS accommodation this emergency accommodation is not likely to be in the area you currently reside.' The Irish Times spoke to a number of mothers on Thursday who say they have been left in limbo, unsure of whether or not they will have to move out on Friday – and where they might end up. The mothers are working in the area, and their children are attending local schools. They said that uprooting their families and moving far away would be incredibly difficult, especially on their children. One woman who lives in the IPAS centre in Inchicore said she is very worried about what will happen to her, her husband and three young children. The family has lived in Inchicore for almost two years. The parents are both working, the two older children are in a local school and their youngest child has just secured a place in a local creche. She and her husband have been to several viewings in various locations across Dublin but have been unable to secure a new home. The woman said she and her husband are earning money and are also in receipt of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) so they can afford to rent a house. However, every viewing to date has been unsuccessful. [ People with right to remain in Ireland stuck in direct provision centres due to lack of housing, Hiqa finds Opens in new window ] Despite not having anywhere to go on Friday, she said the family have packed up all their belongings in case they are asked to leave. 'I'm so scared, I'm so confused of what to do and what not to do.' The Irish Times also spoke to four single mothers who are living with their children in the Red Cow IPAS centre in Clondalkin. The mothers, some of whom work in healthcare, said they recently had to give up their jobs in the local area as they were told they will have to leave on Friday. However, they do not know where they are going to go. These women said they received letters on Thursday which were dated June 30th and noted they were previously instructed 'to vacate your accommodation centre' on July 4th. 'IPAS has now commenced this process in date order based on length of time with status. If you still require an offer of alternative temporary emergency accommodation, and have not yet received your letter, we will be in contact with yot in the coming weeks,' the letter states. The families have been advised to contact the homeless charities Depaul or the Peter McVerry Trust 'who can assist with sourcing accommodation in the community'. One woman facing relocation from the Red Cow said: 'We are so stressed. We've not been sleeping, all of us, even the kids.' She noted their children were very upset to tell their school friends they were leaving and might not see them again. One of the mothers has a serious health condition and is very worried she will be moved to a rural area where she cannot access the healthcare she needs. 'I want to know where they are going to take me because I need to find out whether they are hospitals there,' she said. Inchicore For All, a group of local residents who are supporting the families based in both IPAS centres, has written to Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan asking for the relocations to be postponed. The Department of Justice confirmed in a statement that a number of families will be moved from certain centres on Friday, with more relocations happening on a phased basis throughout the summer. During the coming months, IPAS will be 'progressing moves for approximately 600 families with status to remain from IPAS accommodation centre across the country' – this is 2,042 people in total. A spokesperson said the department 'always acknowledges that these moves are difficult, especially given shortages of accommodation across society, but it is essential that IPAS maintains enough accommodation to meet the needs of new applicants (1,000 per month), who have a legal entitlement to IPAS accommodation, do not have immediate access to the labour market, and do not have access to standard housing benefits or standard social welfare entitlements'. The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) found that more than 20 per cent of people living in seven direct provision centres in various locations across Ireland could not move out despite having permission to stay in Ireland due to a shortage of housing.
The Irish Sun
03-07-2025
- Business
- The Irish Sun
€154 Child Benefit increase cost as Minister confirms ‘no plans' to extend cash for 16k kids amid ‘targeted' boost plot
MINISTER Dara Calleary has confirmed that there are "no plans" to extend the €140 Child Benefit cash to all children aged under 18 who don't currently qualify for the monthly payment. Instead, the Government are focused on "targeted" payments for those most at risk of poverty. 2 Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary ruled out extending the Child Benefit payment to some groups Credit:2 Increasing Child Benefit by 10 per cent would bring the payment to €154 each month Credit: Getty Images - Getty Weekly Child Benefit payments to 16,000 children The Minister for Social Protection said: "There are currently no plans to extend "It is important that the Child Benefit payment reflects our policy objective of encouraging young people to Calleary was addressing People Before Profit leader READ MORE IN MONEY Child Benefit is currently paid at a rate of €140 per child monthly to over 650,000 families in respect of over 1.2 million children. Payments are The monthly payment for a first child was €131.60 in 2004 and stands at €140 now, just six per cent higher. MOST READ ON THE IRISH SUN The Child Benefit rate reached €166 during the Major warning over emergency social welfare scam texts as thousands could be targeted And He explained: "Child Benefit is currently in payment in respect of approximately 1.2 million children with an estimated expenditure of €2.2 billion for 2025. "The cost of increasing Child Benefit by 10 per cent would result in additional annual expenditure on the scheme of approximately €218 million based on the estimated number of recipients in 2025." Calleary said approximately the Child Benefit payments of approximately 16,000 children aged 16 to 18 has their payments stopped this year as there was no evidence they were in education. He added: "Extending Child Benefit to these individuals, assuming that they were all single births, would therefore cost approximately €27 million annually." To get Child Benefit, parents must be living in Ireland and meet the Habitual Residence Condition. Applicants for International Protection do not satisfy this condition and are there not eligible for Child Benefit. Calleary said that paying Child Benefit to Internal Protection Applicants residing in accommodation provided by IPAS would cost the State around €11.5m each year. The total combined cost for the measures requested could therefore be estimated at around €256.5 million each year. €285 CHILD BENEFIT BOOST Research by the State's economic think tank looked at the effect of And confirmed that the Government is considering a second-tier targeted at poorer families in a bid to combat child poverty. He said: "I have a unit within the Department that is focusing on this issue and I've already spoken to Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary on this. "Nothing is off the table. There is a wide menu of options to choose from to target resources to meaningfully impact on the child poverty situation." The €140 flat payment would still be paid to everyone, regardless of income. But a "second-tier" allowance worth an average of €285 per month would allow lower-income families to top up the existing €140-a-month benefit. NO €2.2B COST OF LIVING PACKAGE The second-tier allowance talks come as Finance Minister The The Government has instead this year leaned more towards the possible for those most at risk of poverty. The Budget 2025 package - the It included two double Budget 2025 also provided an additional October cost-of-living double payment as well as the usual social welfare Christmas bonus. But Donohoe and Public Expenditure Minister DOLE FREEZE Yesterday, Tanaiste Simon Harris claimed that people on the dole should In their general election manifesto, With businesses struggling to find workers to fill vacant positions, Tanaiste Simon Harris indicated that the Government may freeze the Asked if the Government will separate the jobseekers allowance from other welfare hikes, the Tanaiste told the Irish Sun: "Budgets are all about choices. "They are all about balance and there is only so much money in the pot so I will keep an open mind on that. 'I'm not convinced that you need to see as significant a rise in the dole as you do in the pension for example at a time when our country is in full employment and there's lots of supports out there for people getting into work and there is other supports out there for people who can't work for very many good reasons."
RTÉ News
30-06-2025
- Health
- RTÉ News
Lisdoonvarna GP service 'would be closed' without support
A GP practice in Co Clare has avoided closure after a doctor agreed not to retire and to take over the service in Lisdoonvarna. The post had been advertised twice by the Health Service Executive but failed to attract any candidates. Conor Hanrahan was stepping down from a busy medical practice in Ennis around 18 months ago when he was persuaded to take up the position at Lisdoonvarna Medical Centre. A big factor in accepting the position, he said, was the additional support provided by rural and international graduate schemes. "The previous GP had been operating single-handedly for 30 years here and that's difficult, you know, to get locum cover when you have family occasions ... to even just get a break or holiday. "A lot of the practices along the west coast of Clare have closed down. For example, there was a GP in Quilty, there was one in Doonbeg and they're both gone. "There's a real difficulty getting a doctor in Kilrush which is a good, vibrant town, but there's been a practice vacant there for a good few years. "It's the same up around Mulranny in Mayo, the GP there, Dr Jerry Cowley, has retired and they haven't been able to find a permanent replacement for him." Dr Hanrahan was speaking after a warning was issued of capacity constraints in areas of growing population in Dublin and its commuter towns in Cavan, Meath, Kildare, Louth, Westmeath and Wicklow. The analysis, from the Department of Health, was published today. Dr Hanrahan is part of the Midwestern GP training scheme, meaning that he was able to bring someone with him to train in Lisdoonvarna as well as recruiting from the International Medical Graduate scheme. "Without this support Lisdoonvarna would be closed. It's essential to have this support to remain viable in rural areas. That was the incentive for me to come here to work instead of retiring. "But I'm conscious that not everyone can afford to take on non-EU doctors coming to Ireland for training. A lot of smaller rural practices can't afford to take on a doctor like that, because they have to pay them themselves," he said. Lisdoonvarna has seen its population of around 1,000 expand rapidly in recent years. Up to 1,000 Ukrainian refugees live in the town and surrounding areas along with hundreds of International Protection applicants. Dr Hanrahan said the level of service needed would make the position unsustainable for a single practice GP, adding that the service gets even busier in the summer. "Lisdoonvarna is a tourist town and the region generally gets very busy in places like Doolin, Ennistymon, Lahinch, Kilfenora, the Burren. "So there's a constant busy workload and thankfully we can assist where possible and deter people from arriving into overcrowded emergency departments where a GP can carry out the treatment needed." Dr Hanrahan said the model operating at Lisdoonvarna Medical Centre is the way forward as in incentive to GPs to come to rural Ireland. 'Huge amount of demand' for GP services in Meath A GP in Co Meath has said that her practice, which has only been open for a month and a half, had to close its books to new patients for a time such was the level of demand. Dr Bláthnaid McHugh, from Trim General Practice, said there seems to be "very high" demand for GPs in the wider Meath area. "We opened on the 12th of May and we had to pretty much close the list in the first week, because we were really at a huge amount of demand," she said. "We have opened up again, but at a much slower pace, and even then, we aren't able to reach the capacity of people who have requested to join the practice. "At the moment, it's still myself here, and I'm the only doctor in this practice. And there seems to be a real shortage of general practitioners in Trim and in further afield to Trim as well." Dr McHugh said that the growing population and the retirement of GPs who are not being replaced have put pressure on the system. "I've been working in in the Meath area since I qualified in 2017. When you're working, you're not really aware of of how short the area is, but I can see, you know, over the course of my lifetime, how much the town of Trim and surrounding towns have grown. "There have been some local retirements of GPs there too and it's very hard to to keep up with the pace of the growth of the population." Dr McHugh said she believes a number of measures could be put in place that would help to alleviate the problems affecting the sector.. "I think just having a bit more exposure to general practice [during training] to get a feeling as to what the job actually entails on a day-to-day basis, that might be helpful. "In this practice, I've set up this surgery myself, and I was interested in setting up my own practice for a number of years, and certainly there were bumps and problems in the pandemic along the way that delayed me, but certainly, you know, I've set this practice up and over the last 14 months, and I've had a lot of support from my my colleagues that I trained with locally, and a lot of them, you know, would have the same concerns that I had setting up with. "Just the cost of doing it and then, just the lack of available properties as well. The housing market is big a problem but also the commercial market. There wasn't many places over the last few years that I found that were as suitable as this premises is for this purpose. "I think what would probably help a GP to start up in their own area would be if there was maybe some kind of a support, a kind of grant or something to just help with equipment or with legal costs or something so that it would take a little bit of the pressure off the GPs who were looking to start up. "At the moment, it's really on yourself kind of thing when you're doing that and I think that a lot of people find that quite daunting. "I did myself but certainly, I'm on the other side of it now, and I'm very, very glad that I've done it and I've got massive support from the local community. Really pleased to be here. And you know, certainly it's been very positive experience from start to finish," Dr McHugh added.
RTÉ News
23-06-2025
- RTÉ News
Asylum seeker died from stab wound to chest, inquest hears
An asylum seeker who suffered fatal injuries during a violent incident in Dublin city centre earlier this year died from a stab wound to the chest, an inquest has heard. Quham Babatunde, 34, an ex-footballer who came from Nigeria originally, died as a result of injuries sustained in the incident on Anne Street South in the early hours of 15 February. The injured man, who was living in an accommodation centre for International Protection applicants in Ballyogan in south Dublin while his request for asylum was being processed, was rushed by ambulance to St James's Hospital but was pronounced dead a short time later. At the opening of an inquest into Mr Babatunde's death at Dublin District Coroner's Court today, a friend of the deceased, Faith Akpobome, gave evidence of formally identifying his body to gardaí at Dublin City Mortuary in Whitehall. Ms Akpobome said she had known Mr Babatunde since May 2024 and had spoken to his uncle in Nigeria, Adeola Olayokun, to confirm that she could assist gardaí for the purpose of identifying his nephew's body. The inquest heard that fingerprint evidence was also used to confirm his identity with officials from Forensic Science Ireland matching the fingerprints of the deceased with those provided by Mr Babatunde to the International Protection Office when he was applying for asylum. The coroner, Clare Keane, said the results of a post-mortem examination conducted by State pathologist, Sally Anne Collis, showed Mr Babatunde died from a stab wound to the chest. Detective Inspector Katharina Joyce applied for an adjournment of the inquest on the basis that criminal proceedings had already commenced in relation to Mr Babatunde's death. A total of nine individuals have already been arrested and charged in relation to the fatal incident as part of the investigation into Mr Babatunde's death. The coroner granted the application and adjourned the inquest hearing until a date to be fixed on conclusion of any related criminal proceedings. Dr Keane also offered her condolences to Mr Babatunde's family on what she described as his "tragic death".
