Dispersal and Direct Provision: a case study

Abstract

The policy of dispersing asylum seekers around the country and housing them in direct provision accommodation centres was introduced almost two decades ago. This article looks at why the government decided to introduce this policy and outlines how it was implemented. The media coverage and the political discourse around the subject of asylum seekers at the time will be looked at briefly to show the context in which these measures were introduced. The article then looks at the village of Clogheen in Co. Tipperary (population 400) and the town of Tralee in Co. Kerry (population 19,000) to see how the dispersal programme worked on the ground when it was first introduced. An analysis of the problems that arose at the introduction of this policy, as illustrated in these two case studies, is carried out, and it is argued that many of these problems remain today, largely as a result of the way in which the Irish authorities have managed the dispersal of asylum seekers and their accommodation in direct provision centres.