On April 8, an application was registered with Dublin City Council asking “Whether the use of the dwelling currently in use as social care accommodation under Class 14(f) at 11 Glenarm Avenue, Drumcondra, D09 X8F1, currently providing accommodation to persons under age 18, to provide accommodation for persons under age 18 and seeking international protection under Class 14(h), is or is not development and whether development constitutes exempted development or does not constitute exempted development?”
The application is on behalf of a company called Yeria Unlimited. It is rather oddly worded and appears to be a rejigging of an application that was registered almost exactly a year ago, but which simply requested clarification on a change of use from “social care accommodation to use as accommodation for persons seeking international protection” was exempted.
This was rejected by the planning authority. The grounds for refusing an exemption were that the proposal to house “unaccompanied minors” seeking international protection did not fall under the categories covered by Class 20F. The new application would appear to retain the proposal to accommodate minors and that is made more explicit in the text.
In the document dated May 2, 2024, refusing an exemption, the planning officer had noted that 11 Glenarm Avenue had since 2004 been used as a residential centre called Dún na nÓg for young people with intellectual disabilities who were cared for in the home under contract from TUSLA. It was home to three young people.
The semi-detached cottage is owned by Yeria Unlimited since 2022 and previous to that was owned by Paddy Hassett and Ciara Marjoram, the sole directors and joint owners of Yeria Unlimited. They are also joint owners of Glenarm Care and directors of Confoveo Limited which is owned by Michael Marjorem who has an address in Monaco.
Michael Marjoram is also the owner of a UK registered Brymore Care Homes Limited which had tangible assets of more than £5 million in 2024. The Marjorams have a long history of involvement in the nursing home sector.
Mary Marjoram and Conor Marjoram own Sorcha Homes which operates as a TUSLA-approved residential care home for young people in Navan. Mary Marjoram is also a trustee and a director of Empower the Family, a charity registered as an Approved Housing Body (AHB) and which has as its objective the provision of apartments to single parents attending university.
Deborah Somorin, a former resident at Dún na nÓg and now a director of Empower the Family, was the subject of an Irish Times piece in 2018. One wonders what former residents of Dún na nÓg make of the proposal to pivot away from care for vulnerable young Irish people to taking in persons who have applied for International Protection.
The owners of the centre might, of course, argue that they are simply extending their care to vulnerable “unaccompanied minors” from overseas. Given that this was explicitly excluded as grounds for a planning exemption last year, it will be interesting to see what happens now.
It is also apparent that Yeria and another company owned by Ciara Marjoram and Paddy Hassett have a much wider interest in securing contracts for refugee accommodation – Yeria had another application for the change of use of a similar care centre on Philipsburgh Avenue in Fairview turned down last year.
Glenarm Care, one of their other companies, has had mixed fortunes in the planning sphere. They currently have two applications for exemptions for change over from “medical and other health care” to accommodation for asylum seekers with Fingal County Council. One for Dun Griffan in Howth pends documentation from the company to prove that the application has the approval of the Department of Integration.
As does another at nearby Tormanby Lawns. This is an extremely salubrious part of Howth where houses fetch around the million mark. One wonders what the other residents might make of the proposal to house asylum seekers in leafy, sea-blown Howth.
Last year, another application from Glenarm Care for the changeover of the imposing Innisfallen care centre (above) on Dungriffen Road was granted an exemption. That property which dates back to the late 19th century was put on the market for just under €2 million in 2018. It was eventually bought for around that sum in June 2023.
There is clearly a lot of money in nursing and care facilities and, obviously, even more if one manages to score an asylum accommodation contract, as have dozens such places over the past number of years, as detailed regularly here.
Yeria, in any event, is doing splendidly and in its financial statement to the end of June 2024 it reported fixed assets of €6.8 million and profits for the year of €1.6 million.