According to property records a residential house in Stamullen, County Meath, which the local community has been informed is to be used to accommodate applicants for International Protection, is owned by the Minister for Justice.
The Minister, of course, does not own the house as a personal asset but on behalf of the Department of Justice. The house in question, in the Forgehill estate, Stamullen, was purchased from, or transferred from, the Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency and the Minister is listed as the full owner since November 24, 2025.
The house had been bought by the Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency from a private owner in 2022. The house had been vacant for some years and local people were naturally curious about who might buy the house, whether it would be rental accommodation as previously, and who might move in. A resident told me that a ‘For Sale’ sign was up for a very short time.
Recently, there was a flurry of activity involving the delivery of furniture and what appears to have been cleaning and renovation work. A local resident informed Gript they had asked a woman who had been calling to the house if it had been sold, and if people would be moving in, and was informed that the house was going to be used to provide accommodation for five males who had applied for International Protection.
None of the local people had any clue that this was going to be the case and their curiosity was motivated solely by wondering what type of neighbours they might have. When the woman next visited the house, she refused to discuss what she had said on the earlier occasion.
Residents then began to make inquiries and discovered that there were no planning applications for the house. They also contacted local Councillors and TDs one of whom, Darren O’Rourke who represents the Meath East constituency for Sinn Féin, contacted the Department and on foot of this the Community Engagement Team has invited three local community representatives to a meeting which is to take place in Bettystown next Thursday, May 7.
The Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency has occasionally acquired residential properties through the Revolving Acquisition Fund but these are usually transferred almost immediately to Approved Housing Bodies or the local authority to be used to meet demand for social housing.
The fact that HSCA did not pass the house on to an AHB or to Meath County Council might appear odd given that at the end of 2025 there were 3,779 people on the housing list in Meath. I contacted Meath County Council to ask if they had been offered the house but had received no response prior to publication.
The Department of Justice does own a considerable portfolio of property including premises and sites that are or have been intended for use as asylum accommodation. Citywest, Thornton Hall and Lissywollen are the best known of these. However, until today, there has been no official record of the Department owning residential homes that are or are intended to be used for that purpose.
I contacted the Department to inquire as to “How many residential homes are owned by the Department of Justice and have been designated to be used as accommodation for applicants for International Protection?” I had received no answer to that prior to publication.
I shall be investigating what appears to be a new strategy on the part of the Department further. It may, however, provide a clue as to why even though more than 13,000 persons applied for International Protection here in 2025 that the numbers in direct IPAS provision only increased slightly.
The current Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, has claimed that the State is now concentrating on acquiring and using large state owned properties in place of privately owned commercial units. That has run into difficulties due to several successful court cases, most notably in Crooksling and Lissywollen.
Has the Department decided instead to use homes in residential estates to compensate for this? That would certainly appear to be the case with the house in Stamullen. If so, this has been decided without any prior notice to or consultation with the local community, nor it would appear, with the local authority or local elected representatives.
It also places a whole other complexion on Simon Harris’ admission that immigration is a contributory factor to the housing and homelessness figures.