'More like punishment' - Waterford protest over attempted eviction of woman in IPAS centre to Donegal
Community Action Tenancy Union (CATU) members, alongside Mayor Cllr Joe Kelly, came to support Matilda at Birchwood House on Friday, May 9.
A woman is facing eviction from an IPAS (International Protection Accommodation Services) centre in Waterford and transfer to Donegal, despite setting down roots in the Déise.
Matilda came to Ireland in July 2024 from Nigeria, and was granted refugee status in September the same year. In the time since she's been in the Déise, she has been integrating with the local community, studying and preparing to work.
On Friday morning, May 9, a taxi was sent to Birchwood House on Ballytruckle Road to take her nearly 400km up north of the country.
Since arriving in Ireland, Matilda has only ever lived in Waterford. She said: "I've started a life here. I did a training course here. I was already working on getting a job here before my accident happened." (Matilda broke her ankle a number of weeks ago.)
Members of Community Action Tenancy Union (CATU) Waterford branch came to support Matilda and to prevent her eviction.
Matilda told Waterford News and Star: "When I first came [to Waterford], I wasn't familiar with the area so some of the people from the house really helped me, took me around places and then I was able to blend in."
Through a friend, Matilda joined a volunteer group at Waterford New Communities Network, which helped her get to meet new people and form friendships. She said: "I became a part of the Women's Shed where we learned sewing and stitching. It's been really interesting, we meet every Wednesday."
Matilda has just been elected as the design manager of the group's yearly design project. She also attends Sunday Mass in The Folly every week.
Last September, she enjoyed the multi-cultural festival held in the city. She said: "I really found it interesting, blending with people from different walks of life, different cultures. We had Pakistan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Syria, it's really made it easier for me to blend in with the environment."
Earlier this year, Matilda sustained an injury in Birchwood House that left her with a broken ankle. She was treated at University Hospital Waterford and had two metal rods inserted into her ankle.
She now needs crutches to walk while she heals from her injury. However, with the looming threat of eviction over her head, she fears that she will have to start the entire process all over again and in a new, remote environment away from her friends, GP and support system.
She said: "I'll have to start all that afresh again in a new county where I know absolutely nobody.
"How do I build relationships again? That isn't integration anymore, that's more like punishment."
Matilda has been looking tirelessly for new accommodation and has HAP approval, but she, like so many thousands of people, is caught in the mire of the housing crisis, where landlords regularly overlook HAP tenants.
Metropolitan Mayor Cllr Joe Kelly came by Birchwood House to support Matilda. He told the Waterford News & Star: "This is just a symptom of the overall housing crisis. I can't understand it, it seems very vindictive to me. Matilda is very well integrated in Waterford, she is well-respected among her peers, she helps out when she can.
"To move this lady, indeed any individual like that, from Waterford to the proposed venue in Donegal by taxi at a cost of €600 is outrageous."
Matilda was told that she was being moved from Birchwood to 'make room' for new arrivals.
Mayor Kelly said: "As I understand it, as of this morning there are two, three spare rooms at this facility here, yet this woman by herself has to be moved out. I don't understand it."
After a long back and forth with management today (Friday), it was announced that Matilda would not be removed from the premises until Monday, May 12.
CATU Communications Officer Killian Mangan told the Waterford News & Star that the attempt was a "scare tactic" to compel people like Matilda to find their own accommodation.
He said: "We have a housing crisis. There are no homes. Matilda has had medical issues. She's on a crutch from a bad injury that she's recovering from. She has a doctor's note telling the IPAS that she has to stay for a few more months because of recovery and she can't move in her condition.
"IPAS up until today have ignored any attempts (at communication), with the collective action we put on today we showed that the community is standing up for Matilda and we won't allow our community to be divided and sent off to the other side of the country."
