Families in Ireland have been left furious as war refugees are given £370,000 worth of new homes as the country suffers a major housing crisis.
The modular homes that include a living room-kitchen, children’s room and master bedroom are completed with furniture that includes dishes, bedding, towels and even cleaning products.
Funded by the Irish government, the homes that were initially due to cost around £167,000 per unit soared to almost £400,000, a report from the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General revealed.
By last month, 572 of the new homes had been built, but construction of 82 new units in Haywood, Clonmel, had been delayed until April 2025 due to disruption caused by ongoing protests there.
Once the project is completed, the modular homes will house 2,640 Ukrainian refugees.
Irish families are furious as new modular homes worth £370,000 are handed over to Ukrainian refugees amid a housing crisis.
The homes are equipped with a living room-kitchen, a children’s bedroom with a bunk bed, a master bedroom and even have cleaning supplies.
Once the project is completed, the modular houses will house 2,640 Ukrainian refugees.
In June this year, the Clonmel Concerned Residents group invited locals to join a protest at the housing site in Haywood, and recently Irish citizens have taken to X, formerly Twitter, to criticize the government for prioritizing residents. refugees on their own people.
Last week, one resident wrote: ‘This government takes us for fools. Ukraine does not need a 450,000 euro modular house. “They just need temporary accommodation.”
Another said: “They have been given billions and we are even paying for modular homes in Ukraine… However, the Irish cannot have a modular home in their own gardens as a cheap alternative to the housing crisis.”
A third angry Irish citizen added: “Ghetto, caravan park, mountain, city centre, redneck, so many descriptive terms.” The poor who struggle to live compared to the elite.
‘I’m middle income and financing a modular home after 30 years with one employer. Taking 25% of my income to finance Ukraine is simply wrong.”
One more chimed in: ‘I think I saw an Olympic competitor from Ukraine get a modular house. It would be perfect for fighting in war. Young, fit. “It would be a more honorable way to serve your country than dodging the Irish.”
In the summer, Concerned Residents of Clonmel insisted the government needed to help the large number of homeless Irish families first, rather than those fleeing the war in Ukraine.
Fully furnished homes were supposed to cost the Irish government £167,000 per unit, but this figure has soared to £370,000.
The children’s room inside the house includes a bunk bed and a radiator.
Residents in Ireland are angry over a move that calls for modular homes to house 2,640 Ukrainian refugees by April 2025.
In June this year protests broke out around homes in Clonmel.
Protesters waving the union flag and the Irish tricolor took part in an anti-immigration protest outside Belfast City Hall, Northern Ireland, on August 3, 2024.
“The Clonmel Concerned Residents Group is requesting a list of all buildings and sites in and around Clonmel that have offered to house asylum seekers and refugees,” they said.
‘We would also like to know how many have been accepted. And how many asylum seekers and refugees are currently housed in Clonmel?
During the violent protests, a man was arrested and charged with assault, criminal damage and public order offences.
In another incident a local attack occurred and a truck was vandalized while making a delivery to the construction site.
The truck’s windshield was shattered when a rock went through it.
In previous attacks at the site, a Garda car had its tires slashed and other equipment set alight, while a security guard also had to be hospitalized the following month after an assault.
The group has been protesting at the site since announcing their intention to create a modular village in the town, similar to that in Thurles, and said they would not back down until a solution was found.
The houses are situated on land owned by the Office of Public Works, local councils, the Department of Agriculture and the Health and Safety Executive.
Protesters take part in the Ireland Says No anti-refugee rally outside Customs in Dublin, March 22, 2024.
Demonstrators took to the streets of the Irish capital in July to protest against the housing of asylum seekers in a former factory.
According to initial plans from January 2023, the modular housing project would build 700 units for Ukrainian refugees and other temporary protection beneficiaries by February 2023.
This was just eight months after the Irish Government approved the proposal, as it was classified as a “matter of extreme urgency” following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
However, the planned completion date is now April 2025, with plans to build a total of 654 homes, despite the country suffering from a long-running housing crisis.
And it has had devastating consequences for Irish citizens.
In October 2022, a man who returned home to Dublin after retiring from teaching in Saudi Arabia took his own life after believing he was a failure because he could not afford to buy a house in Ireland, an inquest heard.
Michael Griffin, 66, was found dead in the water off Howth on October 21, when his aunt revealed that her nephew had been feeling depressed since returning home in September 2022 because he felt stupid for not having enough money. to buy a house.