Several individuals have been detained after confrontations with the police at a location designated for housing international protection claimants in Wicklow’s Newtownmountkennedy. The unit for handling public disturbances by the Garda has been dispatched to the scene. Reports from social media, supported by video evidence, suggest a robust police presence, as well as numerous protests with demonstrators battling it out with the police force while others expressed their disapproval with chants of “shame on you”.
The video also depicts fire at the site entrance, with wood and other items being engulfed in flames. The site, known either as Trudder House or River Lodge, is the location of the incident. A statement from the Garda spokesperson indicates that they are on-site for a public disturbance in the mentioned Wicklow locale but have offered no further details due to the ongoing nature of the event.
This incident occurs on the fringe of the site, which has seen repeated fires at locations planned to provide housing for refugees. The police are also probing an assumed case of deliberate burning at this same location from some weeks ago. The prior fire outbreak at Trudder house occurred in the early morning of April 14th which was promptly addressed and extinguished by the local fire services.
The Department of Integration has pondered deploying 20 eight-capacity tents at this erstwhile HSE facility as prospective housing quarters for those undergoing the international protection process. Much opposition has been levied against these proposals from the locals in the form of protests.