A report published by Crimeworld yesterday once again highlights the lack of diligence that has been applied by the state authorities in awarding lucrative contracts through IPAS for the provision of asylum accommodation.
It refers to a company called Tenzing which continued to draw down millions in taxpayer funding through IPAS despite the fact that the owner of the company, Bernard Byrne – who has an address in Jonesboro in South Armagh – and his brother were the subject of a joint investigation by the Criminal Assets Bureau and the equivalent UK Assets Recovery Agency.
The investigation was into fuel smuggling and fuel laundering and led to a High Court case in Belfast which resulted in the effective seizure of two filling stations and other properties, vehicles and bank accounts.
The fact that none of this appears to have been taken into account by the then Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) when awarding Tenzing the asylum contract for the Redbank Guesthouse in Skerries in 2023 surely raises questions.
DROGHEDA FEUD GANG HAD LUCRATIVE IPAS CONTRACT
As does the awarding of contracts to a company called Secure Accommodation. I reported on their failed attempt to be given an asylum contract for a leased building on Moore Street in Dublin in January 2025.
Following the report and strong objections from local business people and Moore Street traders Dublin City Council moved quickly to reject the notification on the basis that “no supporting documentation verifying a contract/agreement with the DCEDIY has been submitted.”
However, that does not explain why Secure Accommodation, which myself and others knew at the time to allegedly be connected through its director to one of the Drogheda gangs involved in a nasty feud, had been granted other contracts.
This earned the registered owner Ben O’Brien more than €10 million in taxpayer payments for the provision of asylum accommodation.
The contract only ended on October 29, 2025, with effect from November 30. This was two days before an arson attack on one of the Secure Accommodation centres at George’s Street, Drogheda on Hallow’een.
That was at first reported widely as a likely attack by the ‘far right’ but the two who were arrested and charged, Josh Devlin and Jonathan Judge, were quickly identified as being associates of one of the gangs involved in the Drogheda feud.
O’Brien was jailed in June of this year for kicking a man in the head as he lay unconscious, after he picked a fight with two young barmen waiting for a taxi. The victim suffered a fractured eye socket and cheekbone, in addition to two broken front teeth.
He has been named in relation to a CAB case against the Price Maguire gang in 2022.
The two charged with the arson on the Secure Accommodation Asylum centre were reported as associates of the rival Boylan gang in the town.
It might also be recalled that the feud had led to the horrific torture, murder and dismembering of teenager Keane Mulready in 2020.
COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL ON LACK OF IPAS DILIGENCE
While none of the above was directly referenced in the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report on IPAS contracts in 2024 published at the end of 2025 – and none of the 20 premises examined are identified – it might be surmised that the findings have led to a subsequent tightening up of the awarding of such contracts.
The report – a random documentary analysis of the contracts for just 20 of the more than 300 IPAS centres that were in operation in 2024 – was pretty devastating in its findings as I reported at the time.
Perhaps most damning of all is that of the 20 premises the C&AG could find proof of ownership or lessee in just one case. That lack of due diligence provided an obvious window of opportunity for all manner of people to take advantage including as it transpired criminals.
The report also referred to the need for greater scrutiny with regard to the overseas sources of money that was being invested in companies that had been given contracts. As we have seen over the years, much of the ownership of companies leads eventually to overseas registered entities whose ultimate beneficiaries in the majority of cases remains obscured.
The report also found a whole list of irregularities related to the rate of payment for residents of the centres; lack of planning permission; no insurance certification in 7 of the 20 premises; no proper fire certification for 11 of the 20; and that just half of the premises had signed contracts.
Since the Department of Justice, under Minister Jim O’Callaghan, has taken over responsibility for IPAS there has been much stricter examination of the companies. The Department terminated 22 contracts in 2025 compared to just 4 in 2024.
Freedom of Information requests from a resident of Saggart where the giant Citywest transit hub is located also revealed that the new contract that has to be completed by applicants for new contracts and the renewal of existing ones is much more detailed.
The extent to which that has been responsible for the withdrawal of contracts is unknown. However, it is also apparent that existing long-term contracts have been renewed and allowed to stand despite it being clear that there have been multiple lapses with regard to planning in particular.
One can also only surmise whether the clear fall off in new IPAS contracts being awarded for new centres is connected to the more rigorous diligence being applied. Apart from the political sensitivities associated with opening unpopular IPAS centres it may well be that the focus on the murkier aspects of the caper have contributed to the fall off.
Where the continued high number of applicants for International Protection are now being placed is another tale that has yet to be told. We have found several clues related to the role of Associated Housing Bodies like De Paul and even the acquisition by the state of residential accommodation.
The extent of that is not known and requires further investigation.