Greg Daly
Shannon Key West Hotel, Rooskey Parishioners need to be helped welcome refugees into their communities and cannot simply be taken for granted, Elphin’s Bishop Kevin Doran has said.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic after the publication of a joint statement with Bishop Francis Duffy of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, Dr Doran said “our responsibilities as a nation under international law, and also our responsibilities as a Christian community in the light of the Gospel, are to welcome refugees”.
The two bishops had issued their statement after two fires at the Shannon Key West Hotel in Rooskey on the Leitrim-Roscommon border were attributed to opposition to the hotel being used to house refugees. “Militant opposition, expressed in the destruction of property, is simply not consistent with the Gospel,” they said.
Dr Doran played down suggestions that opposition to refugees being housed in the hotel is widespread in the area.
“The local people for the most part are not involved directly in any protests. It wouldn’t be true to say that they’re necessarily out there waving flags either to welcome refugees or to stop them coming,” he said.
“To be honest, part of the problem in a sense is that nobody has ever talked to them about what’s going to happen,” he added, noting that people in Rooskey are “upset” at portrayals of them as being opposed to refugees.
Centres
Clarity about the purposes of specific refugee centres is vital, Dr Doran said, noting that there can be anxiety about the opening of direct provision centres, “‘places where people can languish for seven or eight years”.
When opening a centre such as that in Rooskey or elsewhere, Dr Doran said, “the people don’t just need a roof over their heads, they need the structures of community”.
“In the planning of anything, the connections between the centre that’s going to be opened and the local community need to be considered not only so that the local community is looked after but so that the local community will be helped constructively welcome refugees,” he said.