Laois County Council has issued warning letters regarding the usage of two properties in Portarlington to house asylum seekers.
According to The Leinster Express the letters were issued regarding the use of “rented properties” which, as Gript exclusively revealed in a series of reports last month, are linked to the owners of the East End Hotel whose contract to accommodate persons claiming International Protection was withdrawn on October 24.
The former residents of the East End Hotel had been offered alternative accommodation by IPAS.
This came after Gript’s reporting of concerns voiced by local residents about the connection between Noel Martin, owner of the East End, and a particular property in The Glen, Kilmacourt Wood in Portarlington. Residents and a local Councillor told Gript they believed the property was being used to house up to 16 asylum seekers.
Gript spoke to multiple of the men staying in the property, who confirmed to Gript that they were asylum seekers and that they were paying rent to “Mister Noel” – referring to Noel Martin.
The registered owners of the house are Anne and Francis Lawlor. Anne Lawlor has told Gript that they have made several attempts to force the Martins and the men who remained in the house to vacate the property.
The Martins, through their company Nera Investments, have taken to the High Court in order to secure an injunction against the Lawlors and their letting agent. Gript was in court yesterday morning when the application was adjourned until December 3. The Martins are claiming that they had an agreement to buy the house.
The Martins are claiming that assaults – which were also alleged by persons in the house in emails sent to Gript – were carried out against the residents, while the Lawlors have claimed that the house – which as Gript reported is not a registered IPAS address – is being used to house up to 16 asylum seekers.
The Martins have so far been paid millions by IPAS to provide accommodation for asylum seekers. Their company, Nera Accommodation has, between 2022 and the end of June this year, drawn down over €7 million from IPAS.
Gript can confirm that as of 8.45 am today, one of the houses – in The Glen – is still occupied but that bunkbeds have been removed from a downstairs room. A resident told us that there has been lots of activity there this morning involving people they associate with the Martins and the East End Hotel.
We understand that the RTB has also been notified by Laois County Council regarding the use of the properties.
Gript is continuing to investigate what is happening in Portarlington and at other locations which appear to be part of a network of properties, registered and unregistered with IPAS, through which large numbers of International Protection applicants seem to be being accommodated.
The state and the taxpayers as a whole meanwhile continue to spend billions in providing such accommodation.