Concerns have been raised in one area of Kilkenny city about a plan to house those seeking international protection.
28 people are due to be accommodated at a building at St John’s Terrace on the Dublin Road.
Local residents are concerned that an ongoing sewage problem in the area will worsen if the system is put under any more pressure.
And they, as well as the local authority, say there was no consultation.
Fianna Fáil Councillor Andrew McGuinness, says the entire situation was handled badly, telling KCLR News; “Not only were locals not consulted about this, elected members weren’t consulted about it, Kilkenny County Council wasn’t consulted properly about it, the answers to the questions that we’ve submitted to the Department and to IPAS have not been answered and it’s highly unfair on the local residents who already have issues in that area that are going to be hugely increased with additional people moving into that building and it’s just not good enough”.
Councillor McGuinness adds; “There’s a right of way going through that property to a resident’s house and that resident wasn’t consulted, there’s a huge lack of capacity of the existing sewerage infrastructure that serves the existing tenants and that’s going to be increased when we have 28 or 30 more people moving in, there’s no outdoor area for people that are going to move into this building and there’s a big generator making noise at the back of it as well and all of these questions they could have been answered had proper consultation taken place”.
And he says proper consultation should have happened, noting; “It is going to cause problems and it is not a Kilkenny County Council development so I do commend Fiona Deegan for literally going above and beyond her own call of duty in her own position to try help the residents here and fill that vacuum created where there is no consultation with residents and it’s just not good enough to have that happen, all we’re asking for is proper meaningful consultation”.
The county council has confirmed that its been in contact with the Department of Children and the owner of the building about the case.
