The Dept. of Integration has confirmed to Gript that the IPAS facility at River Lodge, Trudder, Newtownmountkennedy is currently unoccupied by asylum seekers.
As Gript reported on Thursday, residents of Newtownmountkennedy reported that the site appeared to be unoccupied for some time.
Gript has seen images of the inside of the site which appeared to show no signs of life other than the presence of a security guard.
The Department of Integration said that, “Residents from the accommodation centre at River Lodge were relocated to another IPAS centre due to severe weather during the winter, and essential health and safety works are currently being carried out.”
“The accommodation centre at River Lodge will welcome residents when works are complete.” it said.
As reported by the Irish Independent last November, the asylum seekers living in tented accommodation were moved to another tented site in Dundrum, Co Dublin, which the Department of Integration described as “better equipped to deal with the current weather conditions”.
As Gript previously reported, the decision to house approximately 165 single male asylum seekers in the village which has no bank and one supermarket sparked sustained local opposition.
On the 25th of April clashes broke out between members of the Garda Public Order Unit and protesters at the site.
Earlier on in of April 2024, Gript captured pictures of the site after a period of heavy rainfall before the installation of military style tents where the asylum seekers were housed.
You can read the full report from Thursday here.