Bitter political row over proposed Mayo IPAS centre doesn't add up
by Dr. Richard Martin
I went to the November meeting of Mayo County Council. I had a few hours to kill.
I entered the chamber and to my surprise the public gallery was packed. Normally, when the gallery is full, something controversial is afoot. It turned out that they were students from the ATU.
Former SF councillor Therese Ruane had brought them all to a council meeting to watch local democracy in action. She couldn’t have picked a better meeting.
In the room, the councillors sit in a double ‘U’ shape arrangement of desks (one U enclosed in another) facing the council executive, who sit behind an elevated desk akin to a judges’ bench looking down on the proceedings.
The FG councillors sit with their backs faced to the public gallery. The FF councillors sit opposite them and the independents, Aontú and SF sit in the middle of the ‘U’. It’s an even 10:10:10 split. The bould Blackie still sits with the FF councillors closest to the bench.
The media then sit behind the FF councillors on the far side of the room. The room is tight, compact and can make for compelling drama when the fireworks fly. And they did.
The IPAS centre in Ballyhaunis holds 250 residents and a planning application seeks to build a new 32-unit accommodation, which could each house three people, increasing the population of the centre by 96 people, bringing it to a total of 346 people.
Ballyhaunis is a small town in east Mayo with a current population of 2,773 people. Are its public services under strain? Yes. The affirmative answer is yes. The statistics don’t lie.
The local schools are at full capacity. The Ballyhaunis Community School reported an enrolment of 720 students in 2025. The school relies on three prefabs to deliver classes.
Currently, a €7 million extension is at Department of Education Stage 2A which means it should be completed by 2028.
In September 2024, the school said enrolment had reached 750 students which is an increase of 500 from a decade earlier. That’s a staggering statistic and clear evidence that public services in Ballyhaunis are under severe strain. That level of growth isn’t sustainable.
The local primary care centre is due for completion in 2026. However, this project was started in 2019. Normally, a project like this should be completed in two years.
For various reasons the project experienced delays and interruptions. So the people of Ballyhaunis have had to wait for seven years. That’s not fair. Or just. It’s a town that’s been left behind.
The bottom line is that public services in Ballyhaunis need investment. It’s a town that has been left behind.
An additional 96 IPAS residents will increase the town’s population by 3.5%.
With public services already at breaking point it’s understandable that locals are infuriated, particularly when they see the vast profits that Bridgestock Care Ltd. make from state contracts. Bridgestock Care currently has four IPAS centres in Clare, Mayo, Donegal and Sligo with capacity for over 1,000 asylum seekers. In 2023 they received €17 million from the state.
I have always believed that all the IPAS centres should be in state ownership. The obscene wealth that private individuals are making from people fleeing war, genocide and terror is immoral.
Weak leadership has allowed the immigration issue to fester and we have witnessed the rise of the far right in the ensuing years.
It turns out that Paul Lawless TD made a viral Facebook video in Ballyhaunis over the weekend before the council meeting where he voiced his objection to a planning application by Bridgestock Care Ltd.
He highlighted the lack of public services in the town and voiced his objection to the planning application. All of which was reasonable and factual.
I watched the video numerous times and then one statement jumped out at me and I went to verify it. In the video he states that ‘80% of applicants are economic migrants’.
Firstly, what is an economic migrant? It is a migrant who moves to another country to improve their economic situation as distinct to a migrant who is fleeing war and persecution.
But that statistic is not an official government statistic. In 2024, the International Protection Office (first instance decisions) granted protection to 3,888 people out of 13,099 decisions.
Roughly 70%. A first instance refusal does not mean the person is an “economic migrant”. It can be overturned on appeal. Of 2,887 appeals, 756 were positive and 2,013 were refusals.
These statistics show that it is incredibly difficult to seek asylum in Ireland and that it’s not the free for all that some politicians suggest.
That, in fact, in spite of what Paul Lawless says, a stringent rule based system is in place.
I visited the IPAS centre last year with Alison Laredo and we met two beautiful women who lived there. They work and contribute to Irish society. They were and are grateful for the refuge our state has provided.
Has Paul Lawless ever visited the centre and met some of the residents? I don’t think so.
This is the backdrop to the debate. A few minutes into the proceedings Councillor Alma Gallagher got up and spoke. Her back to the public gallery.
She launched into a passionate speech about her love for her home town and her disgust at the viral Facebook video. Her voice and body quivered with anger.
She told the chamber that she did not support the recent planning application by Bridgestock Care Ltd.
She stated that “our government policy has shifted towards state provided care, not private providers. So that ship has sailed, we want to get that message out there to Bridgestock Care Ltd.”
She added: “I will not have any Oireachtas member talk down rural towns like Ballyhaunis.”
At one point she listed a series of positive government investments in Ballyhaunis.
When she finished reading out her list she said: “Do not use this as an issue to talk down the town of Ballyhaunis.” It received a watery enough round of applause.
Councillor Deirdre Lawless spoke in reply. She said that the video highlighted the lack of services in the town.
Councillor Gallagher then rose again. She said: “This is not the first time, Councillor Lawless, that we have experienced this throughout the county.
“I am well aware of the destruction sometimes Aontú can cause. You can't pick and choose statements. You have to look at it in its entirety. And I did listen to that [video]. I listened to statements that were made on Midwest Radio this morning about my own hometown and I won't tolerate it. I am elected by the people of Ballyhaunis.
“We are sick to our teeth of people running down Ballyhaunis. We are held as a model of best practice in Europe for migration.”
The bottom line is this. Councillor Alma Gallagher, Deputy Paul Lawless and Councillor Deirdre Lawless are totally aligned and united in their opposition to the proposed planning application by Bridgestock Care Ltd.
So in essence they were arguing about something they both agree with. Which defies all laws of logic.
Interestingly, there has been a dramatic shift in FG policy to the right after the presidential race. It was clearly evident in the council chamber.
I didn’t hear a reasonable nuanced debate, instead in realpolitik terms, both FG and Aontú are singing off the same hymn sheet, yet they were arguing with each other as they did so. It’s hard to make sense of it.
Councillor Gerry Murray brought some order to the proceedings and spoke in a very calm, politic and reasoned manner. He asked his fellow councillors to “dial down the rhetoric” and referenced the recent attack of an IPAS centre in Drogheda.
He paid tribute to former councillor John Cribben who had shown leadership in Ballyhaunis for the last 25 years. He said that there is an onus on Oireachtas members and councillors to show leadership with a lot of irrational fear and hatred out there.
Councillor Gerry Coyle stood up and posed two thought provoking questions, which I thought were brave.
“If you were walking by a lorry in England and 39 people were inside it – would you open the door? And would you begrudge those 39 people having a roof over their heads?”
His political approach is at times traditional. He prefers to speak in simple terms. But he reminded the room that at the heart of this debate is human suffering.
The palpable anger that’s in the hearts of the electorate is being misdirected at vulnerable people fleeing horror.
He, along with Councillor Gerry Murray, showed leadership in the room.
Politicians are under ferocious pressure. Vast swathes of the electorate have moved to the right.
The first rule of politics is win your seat. The second rule is keep your seat.
The topic of immigration has divided the electorate and politicians are fearful of the consequences. They don’t want to lose their power and prestige.
The immigration debate will never be resolved unless the state intervenes and takes direct control of the IPAS centres and improves public services in towns across Ireland like Ballyhaunis which have been neglected for far too long.
If the government don’t take the necessary action, it leaves a vacuum where fringe far-right populist actors and opportunists can exploit the fears of the electorate to their own gain.
In that situation Ireland loses.
This battle is not for the faint of heart, it’s a battle for Ireland’s soul.