‘A step too far’ Bundoran anti-IPAS centre march targets councillor’s home

The Bundoran community has been left reeling by the treatment of esteemed local councillor, Michael McMahon and his family by those taking part in anti-IPAS demonstration.

On Saturday evening, the group marched to his office - which is located in his family home - and stopped there, filling the street and using a loud hailer to call for him to come out. 

When members of his family came to the front door of their home to say he was not on the premises, they were greeted with chants of ‘traitor’  and ‘Sinn Féin are traitors’ from the crowd of around 100 to 150 demonstrators.

Members of the councillor’s family were recorded as his daughter reminded protesters that: “He is not the government, he is one man.”

While there is much opposition to the development of an International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centre adjacent to a Bundoran primary school, many of the 150 protestors are believed to have come from outside the area. 

One local woman told Donegal Live: “That place is near my home, it is near a lot of homes and just over the street from the school. No-one wants it. And by the way, it is not because we are anti-refugee or not welcoming to people in need. It is just completely the wrong place for one of those centres.

“We have welcomed the Ukrainians here and they are part of our community. I don’t want people thinking Bundoran is racist, it is not. These people in that march waving their Irish flags, they are not from Bundoran, a lot of them anyway.”

When asked if she was prepared to go on record with her comments, the woman replied: “Are you f**king joking, with that gang going about the place?”

Her sentiments were echoed by a number of other people who, while opposed to the IPAS centre, described the actions of the demonstrators at Cllr McMahon’s home as ‘totally wrong’ and ‘not what most people think’.

“Mickey McMahon is the person you call if you want something sorted in Bundoran,” said another woman. “He does not deserve to be treated like that.”

The protest demonstration began at 7pm on Bayview Avenue, at The Viscount guesthouse which was recently approved for development as an IPAS centre. 

It is situated across the road from St Macartan’s Primary School, which it overlooks, and is also close to Magh Ene College, the local secondary school. The area is largely residential.

Among the speakers at the demonstration were John Molloy and Kim McMenamin. Both are members of The Irish People party who were unsuccessful in their bids for county council seats in the Donegal and Buncrana LEAs respectively. 

Those gathered were told by the speakers that allowing so many refugees into Ireland was part of “a plan to replace Irish people” and it was a policy that they claimed was supported by the European Union.

Local councillors had ‘no power’, the speakers said, claiming that the decision to allow refugees into Donegal lay with the chief executive of Donegal County Council. 

Before setting off through the streets of Bundoran, demonstrators were told that they would be stopping at a number of premises. This included Paris nightclub and an amusement arcade owned by Conor McEniff, who also owns The Viscount. 

And protestors were told they would be stopping outside Cllr McMahon’s office.

Cllr McMahon’s opposition to the centre was described as “too little too late” by one speaker, who reminded the protestors that the councillor had previously “shaken the hands of refugees.”

One person who took part in the protest later contacted Donegal Live, asking that her photograph not be used in any coverage. 

“I am horrified and ashamed by what happened at Mickey McMahon’s house,” she said. “It is not what I went to Bundoran for today. It is not what I am.”

She too asked that her name not be used.