Local representatives in Courtown have expressed concerns over personal safety in the area.
They have spoken out following an assault that took place over the weekend at a direct provision centre.
A male in his 30s was assaulted with a knife and was brought to Wexford General Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
Another male in his 30s was arrested and has since been charged following an appearance before Gorey District Court on Saturday afternoon.
Investigations into the incident are ongoing.
It has been reported that tensions on the premises have been on the rise over the last few months and the incident on Saturday is the second in recent times.
Councillor Fionntán O Súilleabháin spoke to Alan Corcoran on Morning Mix today about the issue surrounding the centre in the town:
“I was contacted by local representatives, they are concerned and want to know what is going to be done about this long term. They did express that people have personal safety concerns, particularly about freedom of movement for women in the area.”
Councillor O Súilleabháin went on to point out that a large number of tourist beds have been taken out of the system in the popular holiday resort.
He said that the system of direct provision centres is not sustainable for the Irish landscape in the long term:
“They are not suitable to have a large number of people crammed together and then to have that imposed on rural villages around the country. The Government had given a commitment to phase out this system but now seem to be reneging on that. What do we do, do we give over every community facility for that use?”
“These centres are unnatural pressure cooker-type environments, where a large number of young males from different backgrounds are shoved in together, sometimes for years, in centres which are imposed on local communities, generally against their wishes. The only beneficiaries appear to be speculators, who are creaming it in as fast as they can. Its a cash cow!”
The Gorey Sinn Fein Councillor is calling on the Government to stick to the commitment of phasing this system out.
