Ballina councillor blames convent vandalism on misinformation from online agitators

A Mayo County Councillor has suggested that criminal damage to a local regeneration project is a result of the Government’s ‘very poorly managed’ refugee accommodation policy.

Ballina-based Fine Gael Cllr Mark Duffy called on the Government to move away from a ‘for-profit model’ for housing International Protection Applicants (IPAs) after the building of the former Sisters of Mercy convent in Ballina was vandalised.

Cllr Duffy is the Chairman of Ballina Convent Regeneration CLG, which was gifted the building by the Sisters of Mercy after they closed the convent in December 2008. The charity is currently renovating the building so that it can be used as a community facility. These refurbishment works began last year, and the building has already partially reopened.

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Built in 1867, the convent building is located beside the old St Mary’s Secondary School, on the same site. In 2022, St Mary’s Secondary School moved into a newer building near the old school, leaving the old building vacant. Last October, that old school building, which is now in private hands, was put forward by its new owners as potential emergency accommodation for international protection applicants (IPAs).

To this end, the private owners lodged a Section 5 declaration with Mayo County Council, which would see the building exempt from requiring planning permission if used for IPA accommodation.

However, the Department of Integration later said it was not considering the building for the accommodation of IPAs.

On Friday, January 17, some of the convent’s exterior windows, including historic stained-glass windows, were vandalised. Gardaí are currently treating the incident as an act of criminal damage and are calling for anyone with information to come forward.

Misinformation

Speaking to The Mayo News, Cllr Duffy said the convent had been the subject of online ‘agitation’ over the proposed accommodation of IPAs at the old school, despite the fact that the building was not, in fact, being considered for such use.

Cllr Duffy described the vandalisation of the convent as ‘very disappointing’, and he said online agitators and the misinformation they spread should be called out.

“People need to be called out for creating agitation, for purposefully using the image of the convent building to talk about plans and intentions for IPAs, which has never been the case, and we’ve made that case clear on multiple occasions,” he said.

The councillor believes the agitators seized on confusion that has been caused by incoherent immigration policy at government level.

“It’s just disappointing that we suspect that we’ve been caught in the crossfire of a very poorly managed immigration policy. That remains the case, as we as councillors and we as local community members don’t have sight over what is planned in parts of the community, like [the old] St Mary’s Secondary School,” he said, adding: “There are also people purposefully using that as a way of just creating consternation.”

In light of this, Cllr Duffy said, the Government should move away from ‘a for-profit model where you have people making financially motivated decisions’ when housing IPAs.

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‘Quick buck’

The Government has relied heavily on paying private providers to accommodate IPAs following a surge in applications following the pandemic.

The State paid over €1.9 billion to private providers to house IPAs and refugees in the first nine months of 2024.

“For the planning system to then allow immigration accommodation on site without any public interaction or communication totally undermines democracy. So I do have misgivings,” said Cllr Duffy.

“I constantly have people coming up to me asking for land zonings. They want to build a housing estate to house the next generation of Ballina citizens, yet in the same breath, no housing bureaucracy or any planning bureaucracy is levelled if you want to make a quick buck on immigration.”

Cllr Duffy said the Ballina Convent Regeneration CLG is still ‘very enthusiastic’ about the convent project.

While acknowledging that security measures need to be tightened, Cllr Duffy said the charity will press ahead with its plans to fully reopen the building as a community facility.

“So much good has come out of this project, and so much good that will come out of this project,” he said. “So we need to address the criminality and follow through with the investigation and then continue on with our grant-aid efforts and try and keep going with what we’re doing – fundraise, apply for grants and get more community groups and different initiatives based from the site.”

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