Tipperary project hailed as a success in tackling disadvantage and boosting integration
A project that is operating in Tipperary and aiming to address disadvantage across the county is “absolutely needed” and delivering great results, according to one local councillor.
Members of the Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District were given a presentation on the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) at their November meeting, outlining the work that is done across the district and the wider county to address deprivation.
District Cathaoirleach Councillor David Dunne said that the project was having great results across the district, especially in working with people from the town’s direct provision centre, Bridgewater House.
"It’s absolutely needed and we can see the results of it. You also can see the results of it with Bridgewater House, 20 years or more Bridgewater House has been in existence, and of course, all the bad stories about refugees and immigration and all the bad actors and the most vocal people online, you’ll never hear the positive stuff,” Cllr Dunne said.
"Carrick-on-Suir has been an absolute success story, there was one incident in Bridgewater House over the years, and I know for a fact that some of those people when they got their right to remain in Ireland, moved to the cities, but then they realised that they were missing Carrick so much they came back, and now they’re staying in Carrick and contributing to Carrick,” he said.
“I know of a family that was in Bridgewater House and now two of them are doctors,” the Sinn Féin councillor added.
The SICAP project in Tipperary has a number of key groups to work with, including travellers, asylum seekers and people who have an educational disadvantage.
Praising the work of SICAP in the area, Cllr Dunne said that many people who have been in Bridgewater House have gone onto college education, which shows how much of a success the integration process can be.
"We have people from different backgrounds playing GAA, and sport, it’s absolutely wonderful to see.
"The work SICAP is doing is vital. If we don’t look after the disadvantaged areas, they just become ghettos, so that’s the focus. The Government should be putting more money to you and more resources to you to get in and look after the people that are disadvantaged,” Cllr Dunne added.
"Shouting down at people telling them ‘you’re no good’, ‘you’re a bunch of wasters, you won’t get up and work’, that’s never going to achieve anything, you have to work with people, whether they’re refugees, travellers, or any other community that’s disadvantaged,” the Sinn Féin councillor explained.