Protest over plans for Eircom building

Dozens of people attended a protest in South Mayo on Sunday evening to voice their opposition to refugees being housed in a local building.

The Claremorris Ballindine Says No (CBSN) group held their protest outside the old Eircom building on the Convent Road in Claremorris.

The building has been undergoing work over the past week and members of the group believe these renovations are being undertaken to facilitate the arrival of refugees.

However, the owner of the premises, Seán Cleary, posted a comment on a CBSN Facebook post, saying works were carried out to “secure the property” by installing CCTV, alarms and fixing the fencing around it. He wished “to dispel some of the rumour and scaremongering” surrounding the “low level” of construction activity at his premises last week.

“The works to this derelict structure this week have been to secure the property, and to this end, additional cameras have been installed inside and out, and the burglar alarm has been upgraded along with some fencing,” Mr Cleary wrote.

“I own this building a number of years and initially bought it with the intention of developing a Language School. However, due to Covid, the change to online learning and the lack of housing for a student population, this is no longer a viable option.

“While this is a very versatile building and lends itself to many commercial/office uses, the desire is to renovate the structure to a residential apartment development and potentially a small housing development.

“I believe this will enhance the streetscape and provide some living accommodation in a very desirable location.

“Racism and targeting of foreigners is an unacceptable behaviour, and needs to be called out! Likewise posting outlandish fake news behind a mask is unacceptable!”

However, in a Facebook post on Sunday, the group shared an email from Mayo County Council chief executive Kevin Kelly that was sent to councillors on Wednesday, January 17, where he said the old Eircom building had been offered as accommodation for Ukrainian refugees.

CBSN originally announced that its meeting would be held at Mount St Michael Secondary School (MSM) in Claremorris, but the school emphatically denied that it had agreed to hold the meeting.

CBSN published a Facebook post on Monday, February 12, saying it was hosting a public meeting at MSM as part of its campaign of opposition against the proposal to house refugees in the former Eircom building.

MSM then released a statement on social media on February 14 denying that any knowledge of the public meeting.

“We the Board of Management (BOM), in conjunction with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), wish to provide clarity pertaining to a post/message circulating on social media with respect to a proposed public meeting that is scheduled for Sunday, February 18, 2024, at Mount St Michael Secondary School.

“The BOM or the SLT of Mount St Michael Secondary School have not received any request for permission by any individual or group of individuals for the use of the school or its associated facilities/grounds for a public meeting and as such will not be making the school or its facilities available for a proposed public meeting. We have reported this matter of misinformation to Claremorris Gardaí.”

In a previous CBSN post regarding the building there were comments alluding to setting the building on fire.

“I hope nothing happens to the building in these dangerous times,” one user commented.

“I hope it’s set alight,” another said.

“Is McGuire and Patterson invited?” one person wrote.

Claremorris-based Independent councillor Richard Finn was in attendance at the meeting on Sunday evening and believes there is a lot of “fake news” circulating around the issue.

“50% of the people who were at it were from the local area. I was speaking to one woman who drove all the way down from Dublin to be there. It’s the same people all the time at these protests, except for a few people who might live nearby,” Cllr Finn told the Western People.

“We don’t want to go down the route where we are vilifying property owners, or anyone who wants to upgrade their properties. There is a lot of fake news circulating, but I believe that’s down to how poor the Government have handled it along with our TDs. We’re all being left in the dark.

“If you are to ask me, I don’t think refugees will be housed in that building, but it’s all up in the air. However, people have genuine concerns about international protection applicants coming in.”