Fears over “them and us” emerging  - Council MD meeting hears

A Donegal councillor at this week's meeting of the Donegal Municipal District (MD) said that while it is hugely important to help refugees coming from war torn Ukraine, it should not be at the expense of people here.

Cllr Micheál Naughton (FF) said that while he fully supported such assistance, it should not lead to the discrimination of Irish people. 

There should be equal entitlement to any service that had been or was being made available to Ukrainians now living here.

He feared a ‘them and us’ situation could fester in the future, if things did not become more transparent and an “equal divide”. 

Discrimination or even the perception of some people not being entitled to something was not helpful and needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency.       

Cllr Michael McMahon (SF) said it was an area that required “a big discussion”, while Cathaoirleach of the Donegal MD, Cllr Niamh Kennedy admitted that “tensions were rising”. 

At the meeting, Cllr Naughton said that he did not want to “sound rude or disrespectful” in what he was saying, but there were people in this country being taken off Medical cards, while refugees were being handed out medical cards at the same time. 

He also expressed his dissatisfaction with a situation where refugees were being offered driving lessons when people in Donegal could not even book a driving test.

The meeting at the Donegal Public Services Centre was told that some people were beginning to express 

fears that Ukrainian refugees were receiving free services from government that locals at the same time were

being deprived of. 

“This is what upsets me, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. There are families out there that cannot get to work because of this and we cannot discriminate against our own people. Charity begins at home and it must start with our own people, ” he said.

Cllr Michael McMahon said that the government had let refugees arrive at the airport and this followed by them being “dumped all over the place.”  

“We need a big discussion on this. I am not sure how we go about it, but the last thing we need is them and us. Everybody has the same sympathy for them, they are being treated unbelievably by Russia. But we need a conversation in conjunction with the department who are in charge of this at the minute. We don't need ambiguity as this will simply lead to becoming a problem.  

Cathaoirleach Cllr Niamh Kennedy (Ind) admitted that tensions are rising and that these discussions had been addressed at executive levels.

There were suggestions that some of the groupings and partnership were not working out.

There were many local people talking about this, who were on the receiving end of financial and economic issues within our own communities and many were getting “very distressed”. “They say that they are not entitled to the same things that others are.” 

Cllr Barry Sweeny (FG) said that he was concerned about the way that the conversation was going in the public and one way of addressing this was to integrate more Ukrainians by having them both work and contribute to local communities “in a positive way in  trying to settle some of the tensions.”

Pauric Sheerin, Area Manager of the Municipal District of Donegal said that they were seeking the clarity that has been requested. He pointed out that regarding the housing, Ukrainians were still not eligible for social housing. 

He added that a senior official within the council would be taking a lead role in areas like  accommodation and faster integration within the community and this was a positive indicator and he hoped it would also address the issue over the fear that some people are being ignored.