The fire at the premises in Ringsend that was formerly the Shipwright pub on Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, is not the first time that the property has attracted controversy.
The site has been in the headlines these past few days since news broke of the fire at the premises in the early hours of New Year’s Eve. The vast bulk of commentary both from official sources and others is that the fire was linked to protests before Christmas by local people who believed that the premises were being renovated with a view to opening it as an accommodation centre for people claiming asylum.
Much of the commentary has focused on the claim that the building was being renovated in order to accommodate homeless families. That appears to be substantiated by a statement from the Dublin Region Housing Executive (DRHE) that they were planning to use the site as “emergency accommodation for families.”
That could of course include either emergency accommodation for homeless people, or emergency accommodation for persons seeking international protection – and indeed, the two categories are not mutually exclusive. The most recent published statistics on homeless persons in emergency accommodation showed that 44% were of other than Irish citizenship. In fact, that cohort accounted for almost exactly half of all of those in emergency accommodation in the Dublin region under the supervision of the DRHE.
The original application in 2007 for the premises in Ringsend was to demolish the existing building and construct a three storey premises consisting of retail units and seven apartments; one 3 bed, three two bed and three single bed apartments. Permission was refused.
Among those who objected were then Fine Gael TD Lucinda Creighton and former Fianna Fáil TD, now Sinn Féin TD, Chris Andrews. Both of them supported objections from local residents on grounds that it contravened the City Council Development Plan. The application was refused on conservation criteria.
The existing building covering the site at 16-20 Thorncastle Road remained open as a pub and offered 14 ensuite rooms to guests. The Shipwright became the subject of a challenge by family members to the will made by former owner Eoghan Breathnach who had left the premises to the bar manager Fabiano Alberto Dos Santos and Gabriel Canning.
According to the planning portal on the Dublin City Council site there have been no subsequent applications to alter the layout and construction of the building. That would suggest that the site owners, Gris Developments, have secured an exemption – which would apply in the case where it was proposed to be used as emergency accommodation.
However, according to several sources, including Labour leader Ivana Bacik on RTÉ radio this morning, local councillor Dermot Lacey said that he had received no notice of any change of use of the building by the housing executive of Dublin City Council.
The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) notice at the site lists Gris Developments as the client and Ryevale Securities who are the designated site supervisor during the construction phase. That construction work is to consist of “refurbishing sections within the Guesthouse Buildings to qualify as emergency accommodation.”
That would suggest considerable alteration to the existing layout of rooms. Local protestors had claimed that they had been told that the building was being renovated to accommodate up to 80 people. The original proposal would have been to accommodate just 12 people in the guesthouse bedrooms, and the guesthouse advertised its having 14 rooms.
Ronan Mallon, who is a director of the developer at Ringsend, Gris Developments, is also a director of Coldec Properties which has the contract to provide emergency accommodation for persons who have applied for International Protection at Ryevale House, Leixlip. Ryevale was reported to have been bought by Me Liberer of which Mallon was a director until April 2023.
Ryevale House has so far received €1,195,040 in payments from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY). Two other companies of which Ronan Mallon is currently a director; Laupteen Limited and Sicuro Holdings, have between them been the recipients of more than €7.3 million from DCEDIY (the taxpayer) up to the end of the first half of 2023.
Residents close to Ryevale had met with Minister Roderic O’Gorman in February 2023 to question whether a protected premises ought to be used for that purpose. O’Gorman promised them that he would consult the Attorney General. Asylum seekers were moved into the historical building the following month. Kildare County then Council contacted Coldec about the alleged unauthorised felling of trees there.
(The Ryevale Lawns Residents Association subsequently reported O’Gorman to SIPO because, they said, he had awarded a contract to Me Liberer to house asylum claimants in a protected structure.)
As John McGuirk points out elsewhere today, regarding the claims being made by the state and others regarding misinformation having contributed to the burning of the Ringsend premises, the lack of actual factual information is as much the responsibility of the state and those others as it is of anyone else. The residents in Leixlip appear not to have been informed of anything consequent to their meeting with the Minister, for example.
The facts about the building in Ringsend indicate that the local residents had valid grounds for suspecting that the building was being renovated in order to accommodate people claiming asylum. The statements regarding it being designated for “emergency accommodation”, as well as other facts regarding emergency accommodation in Dublin and the background to the current proposed development, do not actually dismiss those concerns.