Áras an Chontae in Mullingar.

Refugee families are ‘settling well'

The 10 refugee families who arrived in Westmeath from war-torn Syria last June are settling in well, according to Hugh O’Reilly, senior executive officer with Westmeath County Council.

The 45 individuals, mostly made up of young couples and children, had spent two years in refugee camps in Lebanon, before being allocated social housing in various locations in the town.

This year, three more families are due to arrive in Mullingar.

In total, Westmeath is taking in 120 Syrian people, who will be resettled between Mullingar, Athlone and other areas of the county.

The resettlement programme will continue over the next year to two years and in Athlone, work is ongoing in terms of providing homes for 10 families due later this year.

“It’s part of the humanitarian effort following the civil war in Syria,” said Mr O’Reilly. “The families are coming from refugee camps in Lebanon, and it’s co-ordinated by the Department of Justice. In total the government have committed to taking 4,000 refugees.

“It’s going well – the families are settling in well,” continued Mr O’Reilly. “All the children are attending school and the adults are being provided with language classes to help them settle in.

“The English classes are being provided by Longford Westmeath Education Training Board (LWETB) in Marlinstown, and they go there five days a week while the kids are at school. There is also some training being provided for the adults, like the Safe Pass scheme, to allow them take up employment. Some have already gained part-time employment.”

Mr O’Reilly says while the biggest barrier is certainly language, the adults are skilled workers who wish to restart a normal working life.

“These people have skills, they’ve come from quite a strong economic background.

“They are interested in getting into a normal standard of life once again. The children pick up the language much quicker attending school.

“We’ve co-ordinated services to help them rebuild their lives in their new environment here in Ireland. It’s mostly young families. The majority are young couples with one, two or three children. That’s the general trend.”

The families are selected by the Department of Justice explained Mr O’Reilly. “They go out to Lebanon to the refugee camps and assess them out there in terms of how they will best fit in to the way of life in Ireland.

“When they arrive here, there’s a bit of a backlog in terms of health and dental care needs. The ones that came to us have spent two years in a refugee camp. In Syria, they were living in a very affluent economy but they had to flee their homes and families.

“When they come here, the first issue is housing – that’s the main role of the local authority. Then we’ve organised an inter-agency steering group to co-ordinate education, health, social welfare... The group meet every two months to assess their needs.

“The families seem to be doing well. They are very pleased with the assistance they’re getting.

“They’re also getting a lot of help through the Westmeath Volunteer Centre along with the other agencies who are all helping to make settling in a bit more easier,” Mr O’Reilly concluded.