A Tipperary TD has said that local people in the village of Dundrum, with a population of just 220 people, say they fear they will be “outnumbered” if a local asylum centre brings 255 people to the area – adding that the government is treating “its own people with utter contempt on the immigration issue”.
An 18th century estate, the Dundrum House Hotel is the only hotel in the village, and after a fire in 2015, only golf facilities were available to the public. It is owned by an American businessman, Jeffrey Leo, who announced refurbishment plans in 2019. However, the country house was then used to house Ukrainians – and is now to become an asylum centre.
Independent Tipperary TD, Mattie McGrath, told Gript that neither the local community nor their public representatives had been given the information that was needed on what was to happen to the hotel.
“The government is treating the local people with utter contempt,” he said adding that public representatives were also being kept in the dark by Minister Roderic O’Gorman.
The Tipperary TD said that people in the small village “fear being outnumbered” by a large number of asylum seekers “who were strangers to them”, and who very often “are not actually people actually fleeing war or persecution.”
He added that the government was pushing through an immigration policy on rural Ireland without any respect for “our traditions or culture.”
“People in Tipperary had a céad míle fáilte for the Ukrainians who were fleeing war,” he said. “But now they are being told, in Dundrum and right around the country, that they must accept permanent asylum centres, without any regard for what’s best for the local people or the area.”
“Has Minister O’Gorman announced any extra services: healthcare, transport, or any other basic additional services?” he asked. “The answer is No – and this sheer madness is happening all over Tipperary.”
Locals attending the 24/7 protest in Dundrum said that promises had been made to the community that the hotel would be restored and upgraded with plans for a distillery – and that they had been led to believe that the placement of 277 Ukrainians was a temporary arrangement for the centre.
Local woman, Fiona Kennedy, told Tipp FM that what is being proposed will destroy the village – adding that everyone believed that the number of asylum applicants would eventually grow to 550 people because of the capacity on offer.
She referred to previous statements made by the government, such as ensuring a community hotel for Roscrea or stating that any village or town with just one town would not be expected to lose the amenity to provide asylum accommodation.
However, a Government briefing note sent to local political representatives in May said that Dundrum House was now a “hybrid property”, meaning it would accommodate IPAs as well as the Ukrainian refugees under the Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection Programme, Tipp FM reported.
That protest has now been in place for 51 days, after a public meeting attended by up to 300 people decided to take action.
Last week, Independent Cllr Liam Browne said that an “admission” was made in the Dáil by Minister Roderic O’Gorman “that Dundrum House was to be used to house hundreds of asylum seekers”.
Cllr Browne said: “The admission was made in response to a question put to Minister O’Gorman by Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath. Minister O’Gorman confirmed that a contract had been signed with the current owners of Dundrum House, which means that as the current Ukrainian refugees leave the west Tipperary hotel, they will be replaced by International Protection Applicants, and that the hotel will not return to public use as a tourism venue for the foreseeable future.”
Ms Kennedy also told RTÉ’s Drivetime that the protesters wanted to tell government to stop “forcing these situations on ordinary people.”
Locals in Dundrum #Tipperary hit out at “lack of government engagement” on plans to house International Protection Applicants in hotel where Ukrainian Refugees had been living- reporting from their 7 week protest @drivetimerte @RTERadio1 pic.twitter.com/h2gL2DizvI
— John Cooke (@johncookeradio) July 17, 2024
She also told the Tipperary Star that the people of Dundrum were being lied to by the Government.
“None of this is being done out of compassion, it’s a money making exercise, and the money that is changing hands is unbelievable, and unfortunately the Government is allowing businesses to sell out their communities, sell out just for a mighty buck, you know, and that’s really the thrust of it,” she said.
Pointing to the loss of tourism in the area, she said people who wanted to holiday in Dundrum would now be unable to do so.
She said: “They came, they stayed at the hotel, they played golf, they went on tours, they went in around Cashel, they spent money in the village, here on the shops, the chemist, you know, everywhere. They went up into Cashel, Tipperary Town, they went down through The Vee, they went down to Cahir, down to Swiss Cottage, Cahir Castle, all of that.”
“None of that spend is here now when there are no holiday makers and there is no holiday accommodation, and people have stopped coming to the area because they can’t get accommodation,” she said.
Cllr Liam Browne said that “not long ago, Dundrum Golf course was being spoken of as a potential Irish Open course.’
“Basically, the Government are moving a problem from the streets of Dublin, into a small rural community. It’s not fair, it’s not right, and has already led to splits amongst what has long been a very tight knit community,” he told Tipperary Live.
He said what had happened “makes a mockery of past statements by Minister O’Gorman himself. In January, when protests arose in Roscrea around the use of the Racket Hall Hotel, Minister O’Gorman said that his department would look into returning a closed down hotel in Roscrea, into use as a community hotel. That has never materialised”.
“And while he was making those statements, his own department were most likely in discussion with the owners of Dundrum House, to create a similar situation.
“Local tourism in areas like Dundrum, need hotel spaces for tourists. We cannot simply pander to greedy hoteliers, who see the taxpayer as a cash cow. Other ancillary tourism businesses will suffer.
“Not long ago, Dundrum Golf course was being spoken of as a potential Irish Open course. Do people really think for example foreign golfers will want to play in what amounts to a refugee centre?”
A petition to halt the of the hotel as an IPAS centre has been launched, with residents of the small village saying their chief concerns were:
“Safety: Increased crime rates and anti-social behaviour have been documented around IPAS centres, raising real concerns for our community’s safety.
Loss of Tourism: The hotel’s conversion means no longer having tourists and access to the golf course, golf club, and leisure facilities. Loss of tourism traffic to the hotel is a loss to local and surrounding economies. While the hotel itself will earn significant amounts of money as an IPAS Centre, very little of this (if any) will filter into the local economy.
• Strain on Resources: The presence of a large IPAS facility will strain already stretched local resources, including healthcare, education, and public services.
• Community Cohesion: Integrating a large group of IPAS residents into such a small rural area can pose challenges, with potential cultural and social tensions arising from differing lifestyles and needs.
• Current Residents: The current Ukrainian residents, who have integrated so well into the community, are being moved, against their will, from their accommodation to make way for IPAS residents, many of whom will, as in other centres, likely be undocumented and unvetted.”
“Preserving Dundrum House Hotel means more than maintaining a building; it means keeping our community safe and sustaining the economic and social lifeblood of our area,” they said.