Meeting with Ballina protestors labelled a ‘deceptive box-ticking exercise’

A meeting between a group protesting the proposed use of Ballina hotel for asylum seekers and a government official has been labelled ‘a deceitful box-ticking exercise’.

Marie Loftus, a spokeswoman for Ballina Says No, described a meeting between locals and a member a the Department of Integration's Community Engagement team as ‘a pointless exercise’.

The Twin Trees Hotel is due to accommodate 120 asylum seekers from family units in 33 of its rooms but will remain open to the public.

Protestors have maintained a presence at the hotel since it became public knowledge that the hotel was to be used for asylum seekers.

A number of people attended a meeting in the hotel with a member of the Department of Integration’s Community Engagement Team.

Speaking on Midwest Radio this morning (Thursday), Ms Loftus said that no clarity had been given on whether a contract had been formally signed between the department and the hotel.

Representatives of Mayo North East and Moy Valley Resources were also in attendance.

“What I witnessed yesterday, my own view on it, was a deceitful and deceptive box-ticking exercise. Because really, when I asked numerous times what exactly was the objective of the meeting, I was told he was hear to talk around what was happening in the town,” she said.

“When I asked about consulting with the locals, he did tell me that, unfortunately, these processes, there is no provision for consulting with locals. When I pressed and asked why he said, ‘Well the reason why is that if people locally knew what was going to happen beforehand they would come out and protest and there would be safety concerns for the new owners and the people working in the building who’d have to walk past the protests’.”

The hotel has issued a statement clarifying that it will remain open to the public after the arrival of the asylum seekers, who are not expected for a number of weeks.

It also asked that hotel staff not be disrupted while travelling to and from work.

Ms Loftus, who spoke at a demonstration at the hotel on Saturday, said that the individual ‘wasn’t in a position to clarify anything’ and had been put ‘in an awkward position’.

“There is an issue with the fire compliance cert and that’s the reason the contracts haven’t been signed at this moment. He said that’s not saying that that won’t be sorted in the next few minutes or the next few hours,” Ms Loftus said.

“I asked him was there assessment with regards to healthcare services and education, he said no they had no paperwork on that. He said that they were informed informally that our education and our healthcare services could cope with the extra numbers,” she said.

“But he had no documentation, he had no feasibility study, so when we pressed him on how this occurred, how was the Twin Trees put forward or did the government approach the owners, he told us straight out that the new owners approached the government, they said we have a building, they said ‘Great, okay’. That’s how the deal happened.”

_{Signage outside of the Twin Trees Hotel in Ballina} 

Ms Loftus also said Ballina Says No were approached to pay for room rental following the meeting.

“I have never, ever been in a situation where somebody has called a meeting and I’ve been approached to pay for room rental at the end. In all honesty, I just think it shows how our government, they are like ducks swimming in water. Their legs are moving under that water and they just don’t have a clue what they are doing. That’s being honest.”

Alan Flannery, a member of Ballina Says No, told The Mayo News that the group are willing to take their protest to Dublin if necessary.

Local representatives have come out against the use of the hotel for asylum seekers, citing concerns over tourism and the extra demand on local services.

Last week, Ballina Municipal District Council voted to write to Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister for Integration, Roderic O’Gorman, call on them to halt the use of the hotel for asylum seekers

The Ballina area is currently accommodating 407 asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees, according to figures presented at the April meeting of the Ballina Municipal District.

Mayo is currently accommodating over 1,000 asylum seekers who are applying for international protection.

Over 4,000 Ukrainian refugees have been given PPS numbers in Mayo in the county since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.