War of words between Athlone councillors and 'Boxer' Moran escalates

A row that has broken out between four Athlone councillors and their former colleague, Minister of State Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, over the controversial new IPAS (International Protection Accommodation Service) centre in Athlone has escalated further.

The war of words began earlier this week with a statement from councillors Paul Hogan, Frankie Keena, Aengus O'Rourke and John Dolan, who are taking a High Court action against the State over the establishment of the new Athlone IPAS centre.

Their statement took direct aim at Minister of State Moran, who was a co-signatory on their legal action prior to his election to the Dáil.

He responded yesterday (see story here) with a statement in which he said he continues to regard the Athlone centre as an "unacceptable" development, and one which he would not defend.

He accused his former council colleagues in Athlone of engaging in "performative outrage" and attempting to use the IPAS issue to "score cheap political points".

'Boxer' also pointed out that three of the four councillors in question were representatives of Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael, suggesting that they should be raising their concerns with senior figures in these parties rather than targeting him.

Now councillors Hogan, Keena, O'Rourke and Dolan, have responded to Minister Moran's statement with a further statement of their own.

Their new statement, which was sent to the Westmeath Independent late last night (Thursday), described the statement from 'Boxer' as being "loud on soundbites and mute on detail".

They went on to argue that, as Minister for the OPW, he has the authority to revoke the licence agreement that was put in place by the previous Government for the establishment of the Lissywollen centre.

The first group of 92 male international protection applicants arrived at the temporary accommodation in the Athlone site last December, but the councillors, in their statement, said the numbers at the site have since reduced to "approximately 50" residents.

The full statement issued last night on behalf of the four councillors is as follows:

"The four Athlone-based councillors of John Dolan, Frankie Keena, Aengus O'Rourke and Paul Hogan have responded to the statement released today by Minister for the OPW Kevin 'Boxer' Moran. They have described the statement as being ‘loud on soundbites and mute on detail’.

"We successfully won the case last December when the State conceded that this site was not in compliance with national and international planning and environmental law. Since that time, the State has been forced to reduce the number on-site to approximately 50 residents.

"Minister Moran was a member of our team during the times he was elected as a Councillor, TD, involved in Government formation, Programme for Government talks and being reported in the media as the prospective Minister for the OPW.

"However, as Minister for the OPW, he has done very little, if anything, to terminate the licence agreement with the Department of Justice, given the fact that this unauthorised development is on OPW land.

"The OPW's Protocol for the Intra State Lease of State Properties clearly states that the 'licence shall terminate immediately if the licence… is in breach of any of the necessary approvals and consents to ensure that the permitted use complied with the Local Government (Planning and Development) Acts 1963 to 1999 and the Planning and Development Acts of 2000 to 2002 and ….to comply in every respect with the said Acts and the Building Control Act 1990 and all regulations and orders made under them'.

"As the State conceded last December that this site and subsequent development is not in compliance with planning and environmental law, it is incumbent upon Minister Moran to terminate the licence with immediate effect.

"We, as a collective group of four councillors, have been in the High Court over a dozen times. We are fully committed to this process and we are confident of a successful outcome. We fully respect the court in this regard.

"As this is a political decision, we believe we should be engaging every political avenue as well. We have engaged with numerous Oireachtas members, including other Ministers in this constituency.

"We are aware that it is this Government's prerogative to introduce a Planning and Development Amendment Bill may be put to both Houses of the Oireachtas after the Summer recess. This Bill will seek to retrospectively attempt to regularise and retain the development. This is an affront to democracy and we will continue to engage constructively with as many Members of the Oireachtas as possible over the coming months.

"Although loud on soundbites, Minister Moran’s statement is mute on detail. He has stated that his commitment to this issue hasn’t changed. Based on that statement, one could only logically assume that Minister Moran will not vote to support this legislation if it comes before the Oireachtas. However, the statement falls short in this regard.

"Minister Moran has also stated that he does not want to see 1000 men in tents on this site. But his commitment to modular homes on this site is once again mute.

"We, are once again, calling on Minister Moran, as the Minister responsible for the OPW to terminate this licence with immediate effect. He has the power to terminate the licence, and is obliged to do so," the statement concluded.