Uproar at TD’s forum on plans for mosque
Shouting and heckling mar a local meeting on plans for a €5m mosque... as Imam told: Don’t build it, we don’t want it
A MEETING to discuss plans for a €5million mosque in Kilkenny descended into acrimony on Thursday, with one attendee shouting: ‘This is Kilkenny, not Mecca!’
Some 200 people attended the meeting, organised by local TD John McGuinness. There were a number of speakers both for and against the development.
ANGRY scenes marred a public information meeting on proposals to build a mosque in Kilkenny where one member of the public declared: ‘This is Kilkenny, not Mecca’.
The meeting was called by John McGuinness – the highprofile local TD and former chairman of the PAC – and his son, Cllr Andrew, in response to queries from residents.
About 200 attended, but shouting and heckling dominated the two-hour meeting.
‘We are here to answer your questions and concerns,’ said Imam Ebrahim Ndure, as he attempted to answer questions from the floor from locals, many of whom voiced their opposition to the €5million development.
Some complained that the site might be close to a burial ground or would interfere with traffic and parking in the area.
Local resident Eugene McGuinness said 99.9% of the people did not want this development, which would consist of a mosque, a community hall, a library, residential accommodation, a Halal shop and a community café.
‘I have walked to every door in this area, all the housing estates. 99.9% of people do not want this building to go ahead,’ he said to loud applause from some sections of the crowd. He added: ‘It is about planning, it is not a religious argument.’
However, Stephanie McDermott from Kells said she had lived in Muslim countries, and that Irish people were allowed to practice their faith in other countries.
The Imam said the Kilkenny Islamic community had been seeking sites for the past two years and asked anyone with an objection to raise it with the county council.
One member of the public said: ‘We don’t want a mosque. This is not just for the Muslims of Kilkenny. They are going to come from all of Tipperary, Wexford. This is Kilkenny, not Mecca. This is not Mecca. Don’t be bringing people down here. Don’t build the mosque, we don’t want it. You have to respect our culture. For us to respect you, respect us first.’
Others said the mosque would be welcome. A suggestion was also made to build it on the Freshford Road, where the Kilkenny Islamic community have been renting a premises for the past ten years.
The Imam invited people to visit the Freshford Road centre.
John McGuinness called for calm and said if people wanted to object they could do so. He said that the closing date for objections was April 19. He said he had heard several objections including traffic, traffic management, parking and access for emergency vehicles.
The architect for the development and planning experts were also there to answer questions. One campaigner from a Waterford-based anti-racism campaign wrote on Facebook that he was concerned at some of the views expressed. ‘I’ve never seen or heard such lumpen racism in my life, and I genuinely felt worried that the meeting would spiral out of control,’ he said.
‘Whilst leafleting outside with comrades from Waterford Against Racism and United Against Racism we had plenty of abuse shouted at us – the bizarrely ironic “you’re not from here, f**k off back to Waterford”... a fine example of tolerance indeed.’ He praised the Imam for handling all the comments with ‘dignity and respect’.
He added: ‘The anger came from about 10 to 12, maybe 20, people in a 100 max crowd. There wasn’t unanimous opposition to the mosque. Indeed, I’d say there was a sizeable support judging by the applause when the Imam was aggressively asked, “where do you come from?” [and] without a blink he replied with the name of a local neighbourhood.’
When contacted last night, the campaigner declined to comment further to the Irish Daily Mail.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Andrew McGuinness said as he and his father are local representatives, and their office is a stone’s throw from the site, people came to them with queries about it.
‘It is our view that people need to know the truth and have all of the facts in relation to what is being proposed. People have genuine concerns and we have numerous problems in the area, in terms of parking and so on, so it’s important that everything is laid on the table in a fair and transparent way.
‘We viewed the plans as soon as they were available and made contact with the applicants and the architect seeking answers.’
‘They will come from Tipperary’