Leitrim County Council has issued High Court enforcement proceedings to prevent a Dromahair hotel from being used to house 150 asylum claimants because, it says, planning permission was granted for commercial tourism use, not asylum accommodation.
Hundreds of people turned out last November to protest the plans to house migrants claiming asylum, with locals insisting that the town could not cater for such large numbers, while issues of safety and cultural differences were also raised.
Dromahair has a population of 939 according to the last Census.
However, Dromaprop Limited, who owns the Abbey Manor Hotel, told the court today that they were seeking a judicial review of the County Council’s decision of January 9th to declare its certificate of compliance with building regulations as invalid
The local authority alleges Dromaprop Limited intends to change the use of its Abbey Manor Hotel from a “specific form of tourist accommodation” to temporary use for asylum seekers and has carried out unauthorised works in preparation for this change, the Irish Independent reports.
Planning permission granted for the premises was based on commercial tourism use, where specific tourism-related policies were cited, the council alleges.
Dromaprop’s barrister, Niall Handy, told the court the council’s decision to invalidate the company’s compliance certification and to issue enforcement proceedings was preventing the building from operating as the owners wished.
But Leitrim County Council said Dromaprop was carrying out what it described as unauthorised development at the hotel, and that the company should not continue with works that would change its use from commercial tourist accommodation to temporary use for asylum accommodation. The local authority said it did not accept that the change of use was exempted.
Both cases will be heard in April.
Last November, local woman Fiona McPadden said that residents did not believe that it would be possible to house a mix of single men with families, including children, in the hotel.
‘There has been a complete lack of communication’
Fiona is from Dromahair in Leitrim. She is concerned about plans to bring in 155 international protection applicants to the area. #RTEUpfront pic.twitter.com/FjpA0TNLF0
— Upfront with Katie Hannon (@RTEUpfront) December 11, 2023
Another local woman, Bernie O’Hara told the protest that “to bring single men and put them in a house with families and young children is actually spitting in the face of every single regulation that was made for child protection in this country,” the Leitrim Observer reported.
Mary Kelly, another concerned resident, said: “We have a lovely village and community here that is very safe and people here have put a lot of effort into developing a park and getting loads of facilities for the young children around here and it won’t be safe to let children walk around. I myself, as an adult, will not walk alone anymore either.”
200-strong crowd protest outside Abbey Manor Hotel in Dromahair https://t.co/G37Bol0iHN
— Leitrim Observer / Leitrim Live (@LeitrimLive) November 23, 2023
However, a newly formed group ‘Leitrim For All’ ‘ called for the inclusion and support of asylum seekers and refugees at the time.
A spokesperson said that following the events in Dromahair, “Leitrim for All was founded to support the inclusion of asylum seekers and refugees into our communities and combat disinformation around the issue”.
On November 29th, the Dromahair Concerned Citizens group were told by the Department of Integration that the arrival of people seeking asylum to the village has been put on hold pending the resolution of a hotel planning issue.