What’s next for Athlone IPAS site?

A year and a half after local councillors went to the High Court to try to stop the development of a controversial accommodation centre for up 1,000 male asylum seekers in Athlone, the case has formally ended with the final order in the councillors' favour coming into effect last month.

Attention is now turning to what the future will bring for the Lissywollen site, with conflicting reports circulating about whether or not it might again be considered for use in accommodating asylum seekers in the future.

A report in last weekend's edition of The Irish Mail on Sunday indicated that the Athlone site was one of seven currently under consideration for use as State-owned accommodation centres.

When asked about the future of the Athlone IPAS site, a Department of Justice spokesperson told the Westmeath Independent: "Legislation is being developed to support updated planning arrangements for this and other State-owned sites."

However, local Minister of State Kevin 'Boxer' Moran said he has been given assurances from colleagues in Government that the State will not be proceeding at this time with any new effort to reinstate an IPAS centre in Lissywollen.

"Athlone is not being considered at this time (for a new IPAS centre) and I've been assured of that," Minister Moran stated.

"The conversations I'm having are about the number (of international protection applicants) falling, and I'm being told that the Athlone site will not be considered in relation to housing asylum seekers."

The site is currently owned by the OPW and Minister Moran said he would like to see it being transferred for enterprise and employment use in the future.

The four Athlone councillors behind the successful High Court case, Paul Hogan, Frankie Keena, Aengus O'Rourke and John Dolan, said they hope to see the site being rezoned for public recreation use.

The controversy over the IPAS centre erupted in the autumn 2024 when Roderic O'Gorman, the then-Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, issued an order which bypassed the usual planning process and saw work begin almost immediately on a temporary accommodation centre for up to 1,000 male asylum seekers, formally known as international protection applicants.

"Accommodation will initially be provided in tented structures, with modular accommodation to follow at a later stage," a Department spokesperson said in November 2024.

That same month, a group of Athlone councillors announced they would be taking a High Court action in an effort to stop the development, and a GoFundMe appeal resulted in more than €52,000 being donated by the public to help meet their legal costs.

Last November, a year after the case was initiated, Ms Justice Farrell formally quashed the Section 181 order used by the Government to establish the accommodation centre. She put a four-month stay on that order, and it subsequently came into effect last month.

In a joint statement welcoming the final order in the High Court action, the four councillors involved said it definitely confirmed that the local IPAS centre "did not comply with the required planning and environmental legal processes".

While noting that the High Court had awarded costs in their favour, the councillors said remaining funds from the GoFundMe appeal would be held for the time being in case any further legal action was required.

"Further legal action may be required if the State does not return the lands at Lissywollen back to their original condition. The remaining funds will be held for this purpose," the councillors said in a joint statement issued to the Westmeath Independent.

"In time, if we have a surplus, we will follow through with our original commitment and divide any remaining money among local charities."

Reflecting on the conclusion of the High Court case, the councillors said they had taken on the State and succeeded.

"This outcome is not only significant for Athlone but stands as a powerful affirmation of the rule of law," they said.

"From the outset, we maintained that planning and environmental laws exist to protect communities and ensure transparency and accountability. The High Court has now fully vindicated that position.

"We want to place on record our sincere gratitude to the people of Athlone and beyond. The encouragement, goodwill, and unwavering support we received throughout this process sustained us during what was, at times, an extremely demanding and protracted legal battle."

The councillors also expressed gratitude to their legal team, thanking solicitor and legal advisor Patrick Cunningham, of Patrick Cunningham & Co in Dublin, "for his guidance, encouragement and professionalism" throughout the case.

"This outcome sends a clear message: due process matters, local communities must be respected, and no Government is above the law," the local councillors concluded.

All of the residents at the temporary IPAS centre site were transferred elsewhere last year, and the accommodation facilities at the site have been dismantled.

Speaking to this newspaper, Minister of State 'Boxer' Moran reiterated that he wasn't responsible for the establishment of the IPAS centre in Lissywollen, work on which began while he was still an Independent county councillor in Westmeath, and not a Government TD.

"What we all have to do now is work together. What happened in the past I wasn't responsible for, even though I was blamed and my family went through hell in relation to it with various things being said and done to me which I think were unfair.

"I stand over the decision to go into Government to make things happen, develop Athlone and develop Longford/Westmeath. That's my role," he said.

"Much was said in the public domain about me, and I wasn't happy with it, but I'm not going to look back in anger, I'm going to look forward. My job is to continue that good work and develop Athlone to what we want to see - which is city status - and work towards that."

When asked about the statement from a Department of Justice spokesperson that updated planning arrangements were being drawn up for the Athlone IPAS site, he replied: "The Department have said that to you, but I can assure you that site is not being looked at at this time, and it won't be."

'Boxer' explained that his preference would be to see the site being developed for job creation purposes.

"It's all about jobs, jobs, jobs," he said.

"If you look around that area you have the Department of Education, you have Covidien, you have Ericsson, you have schools and childcare in the area and you have the IDA after buying up land on the (Athlone) side of that area.

"We need to see that land (in Lissywollen) being developed for the betterment of Athlone going forward."