First migrants begin arriving at facility in small Irish village of Dundrum

Image courtesy of X

A program to settle migrants in a small Irish village has seen its first arrivals, despite fierce local opposition to the plan. On Tuesday, the first migrants arrived in Dundrum, a village of around 200 people, in Tipperary County.

Rebel News CEO Ezra Levant visited the village last month, reporting from the golf and country club that has been converted into a migrant housing facility.

Village of Dundrum, Ireland.

Population: 200
Current migrant hotel plans: 280
Total migrant bed capacity: 500
Family sponsorship: 3,000

For hundreds of years this village was Irish. That’s about to become a rumor, a faint memory, a footnote in history. pic.twitter.com/D3xmJpzljv

— Ezra Levant 🍁🚛 (@ezralevant) July 17, 2024

Irish outlet Gript reports that Dundrum locals had placed a barrier outside the site on Tuesday morning before police dragged them away. “Four vans of riot squad Gardaí were present this morning, local TD [Ireland's equivalent to a member of Parliament] Mattie McGrath said, and were being used to ‘force through’ a centre that the village did not want,” the outlet noted.

Beloved Irish hotel could be converted to migrant camp: Family member of former owner speaks out@EzraLevant speaks with a family member of the former owner of a beloved Irish hotel that the government is planning on turning into a migrant facility.

Rebel News CEO Ezra Levant… pic.twitter.com/AMfSv8VcAG

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) July 23, 2024

While Dundrum's local population is around 200, the migrant facility is expected to house 280 migrants and has a bed capacity of up to 500. McGrath, the local politician, said there were “more (police) than local people in the village this morning,” which were being used to force through the migrant centre despite the residents' rejections. 

Scenes of the confrontation between police and local residents were posted on social media.

Residents of the tiny village of Dundrum are “devastated” this morning as a “small army of Gardaí”, are being used to “push through” three buses of migrants claiming asylum into the Tipperary village, despite widespread objections.https://t.co/el1TY5Jraz

— gript (@griptmedia) August 13, 2024

Fiona Kennedy, a resident who has organized protests against the facility, and who previously told Rebel News the locals' concerns stemmed from a strain on services, said “None of this is being done out of compassion, it’s a money making exercise, and the money that is changing hands is unbelievable, and unfortunately the government is allowing businesses to sell out their communities, sell out just for a mighty buck, you know, and that’s really the thrust of it,” Gript reported.