350 people “crammed” into Kilrane/Rosslare Harbour Community Centre this week to oppose plans to turn a local hotel into a second migrant centre in the small rural village. Local Councillors said that people in the area were “sick of being walked on” and had “done enough”.
Particular upset was expressed at the meeting because plans to turn the old Great Southern Hotel into a nursing home had now been shelved in favour of a IPAS centre housing those who come to Ireland claiming asylum.
International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS), under the auspices of the Department of Integration, provides housing for those who come to Ireland claiming asylum. Currently, some 25,000 people are being supported by IPAS, separate from Ukrainian refugees who come to Ireland under temporary protection measures introduced after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
The Wexford People reports that one local politician described it as the “biggest public meeting I can ever remember being at”.
“[U]pwards of 350 people crammed inside the to hear how local councillors, TDs, and members of the community could counteract plans to turn what was initially intended to be a new nursing home facility into another IPAS centre.
Local reporter Simon Bourke said that Rosslare councillor Ger Carthy explained “how the plans to develop a nursing home at the old hotel had changed after the ownership of the site had changed hands”.
“Domal Construction originally applied for planning permission for a 90-bed nursing home, and 25 independent living units, approximately two years ago. In January of this year, myself and a number of other councillors were informed by the same developer that the hotel was to be turned into a 90-bed nursing home, however, at that stage he didn’t own the building, it was owned by Aidan Gallagher, who had purchased it in January of 2021,” Mr Carthy said.
He told the meeting that Wexford County Council had received a Fire Safety Certificate Application from the new owner and that this had included details of the proposals to develop the migrant centre.
“It’s for 44 two-person bedrooms in the west wing of the Great Southern Hotel. I spoke to the fire officer last week and he said the developer has a top of the range fire consultant and, if everything is above board, he’ll have no option but to approve the application. On the fire application it states IPAS accommodation, it doesn’t state Ukrainian refugee accommodation,” he told the meeting, adding that while Mr Gallagher is the developer “he doesn’t intend to be the operator.”
The meeting heard that Rosslare Harbour already hosts an IPAS centre in Rosslare Harbour, and that three hotels in the area -The Dock Hotel, the old Ferryport Hotel and the old Hotel Rosslare – also house Ukrainian refugees.
This meant some 300 people were already placed into a village with a population of approximately 1200, Cllr Carthy said.
He said the local committee “needs to request the attendance of Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman and his Minister of State Joe O’Brien to come and meet the local community.”
“The Garda Commissioner has taken a guard out of the harbour, we don’t have public realm works, an adequate community centre, we don’t have adequate doctors, and we don’t have the wraparound services.
“And, let’s be fair, when the bombs started to rain down on the Ukraine, a committee was immediately set up here and the local community donated more than €100,000 to help and support those people; they welcomed them here with open arms. If someone asked me whether the people of Rosslare Harbour and Kilrane have done their bit, I’d say they’ve done more than their bit,” he added.
“The decision won’t be made by WCC, it will be made by the Department of Integration, it’s solely at the door of Ministers O’Gorman and O’Brien. If an application has been made for a fire certificate then the department is talking to the developer, it’s in train, but not signed, and Minister O’Gorman is the one who has to sign it,” he added.
“The pen pushers in the department don’t care, it’s about accommodation, just get it off the desk. They won’t even answer the phone; I’ve rang the secretary general and had no reply. But we’ve taken a large amount of people in here, and we don’t have the services, so they have to be fair and realistic in the approach they take.”
Cllr Carthy said that Wexford County Council could potentially challenge the project.
“A year ago there was legislation brought in by the housing minister to allow for nursing homes to be turned into IPAS centres, as part of that there was to be a cooling off period of 18 months from the time the developer applied to change the use of the building,” he said.
“We need to test what is a change of use. But the problem we have with the Great Southern is that while planning was granted for a nursing home, it was never completed as a nursing home or registered as one, so we’re in something of a grey area. We can test it by sending what’s known as a Section 5 planning referral to An Bord Pleanala (ABP) and it would be up to them to adjudicate then. If the Section 5 is activated. Minister O’Gorman will be put on notice that it’s now with ABP, make no mistake.”
Cllr George Lawlor from the Wexford Borough said that local people, who had shown goodwill and support to asylum seekers, were now saying “we can’t take any more.”
“The people who are ringing me with serious concerns about this are the same people who were standing in tents at 3 a.m. while the boats were coming into the harbour from Ukraine,” he said. “It’s the people who have helped those coming from Ukraine and those in the IPAS centre who are saying ‘we can’t take any more because we’re at saturation point, we can’t take any more because it will evaporate all the good will that has been generated in this part of Co Wexford, anything which has been created will disappear because the people will be sick of being walked upon’,” he said according to the Wexford People.
“You’ve played your part, that’s the message that needs to come out of here, you are not racist, xenophobic or anti-immigrant, but you will not tolerate this. That’s what our TDs need to be saying when they sit down in front of Minister O’Gorman,” he added.
Locals shared difficulties with over-subscribed schools and making appointments with local GPs. Serious upset was also shared regarding the loss of the planned nursing home.
Wexford People reported that Cllr Frank Staples described the nursing home loss as “the biggest blow”.
“The fact we’re potentially losing a nursing home is the biggest blow,” he said. “I spoke to a lot of older people at the time the nursing home got planning permission and they were delighted because it meant they would be able to stay in their community.”
“Unfortunately there’s more money in accommodation services than nursing homes, at the end of the day this is about the developer getting the most they can out of that building,” added Cllr Carthy.