Residents of Saggart who brought traffic on the N7 almost to a standstill yesterday as they sought to draw attention to their opposition to a government proposal to purchase the Citywest Hotel and turn it into what they say will be the largest IPAS centre in Ireland, will continue protests on the issue a local Councillor says.
Locals say they want Citywest to be returned to use as a hotel as a facility for the community and they oppose the placement of thousands of people into the asylum centre, and vow to continue with “vehicle protests” and other protests to bring attention to their concerns. Beginning at 3.15 yesterday afternoon, some 50 cars repeatedly drove in a “go slow” loop around the hotel and Saggart village, including the N7 in that route.
They are seeking to stop the purchase of the hotel by the government, with a reported price-tag of €100 million euros. The Citywest hub has operated as a mixed-use accommodation facility since 2022, initially to house Ukrainian refugees. It now hosts both Ukrainians and IPAS asylum seekers – and there has been some controversy over its expansion, with a packed meeting attended by hundreds of locals in the Green Isle hotel last week. The Department of Integration has yet to confirm the final timeline for the proposed purchase, though it is expected to take place soon.
“There’s the N7 taken to a standstill, and that’s the way its going to be from now on until we get our voices heard,” one woman taking part in the protest said, adding that the “NGOS and the government” needed to “take heed” because locals “want our hotel back”.
“The Citywest hotel is the local’s facility,” she added. “It’s for local people – not an IPAS centre with 3,000 people in it. Absolutely no way, its disgraceful,” she said.
In a statement to Gript, Saggart residents said, “Yesterday’s traffic protest was against the Government’s plan to purchase Citywest Hotel. The residents of Saggart have been very silent for the past 4 years as Citywest has grown to be the largest refugee centre in the country. But if the Government succeeds in buying it, it will allow them to develop it whichever way they want and mean that it will never revert to the wonderful amenity it was for so long to Saggart, Rathcoole and the wider Dublin South-West community.”
“We first held a meeting in the Green Isle Hotel eight days ago. It was well attended by 200 people many of whom voiced the impact of Citywest on their daily lives. The traffic protest was raised and agreed at the meeting. We regret the delays it caused to people, but we are at our wits end as all our TDs are ignoring this issue,” they added.
“We’re calling on Minister for State, Emer Higgins and Fianna Fail TD Shane Moynihan to immediately call Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan to abandon his plan to buy Citywest Hotel. The opposition TDs Eoin O’Broin and Mark Ward of Sinn Fein and Independent Paul Gogarty are complicit with the government by their silence on this matter,” they said.
“Also agreed at the meeting was organise a petition calling for the purchase to be abandoned. After five days of canvassing, we have gathered over 1500 signatures in Saggart and Rathcoole. Our canvassers are finding that 90% plus of people who answer their doors sign the petition. That tells us that we are right and that Saggart is behind us to stop the Govt plan.”
Supporting the protest, local Councillor Linda de Courcey, said that protests would continue because “the government wants to ensure Citywest will become a permanent migrant camp with no consideration for the local people and how they might feel about this.”
She said that local people felt their concerns around safety in the area were not being taken seriously, a view that was also expressed at the meeting in the Green Isle Hotel.
The Independent Ireland Councillor said the government needed to understand that they firstly “have national obligations, not international ones”, and added that the community in Saggart, like many others around the country, had been previously led to believe that the use of important local amenities, such as hotels, would only be used for migrants on a temporary basis.
She added that if the majority of the people in an area were opposed to a proposal then they should be respected and it should not go ahead. She said she will join local residents in a protest at the Dáil on Wednesday, and that her party were fully behind the locals.
“I fully support the residents of Saggart and the surrounding community in their opposition to the purchase of Citywest by the State. The permanent loss of such a valuable amenity, a place of recreation, employment and business is a cause of great concern to locals. It explains why over 90% of locals when asked are willing to sign their name to the petition asking the government not to purchase the hotel. There will be a protest outside the Dail on Wednesday 11 th June from 10:30 to 11:30 to continue to highlight this extremely serious issue,” she said.
Reporter Barry Whyte for Newstalk talked to one woman at the protest who said that she felt that the some of the current residents in the Citywest hotel had caused “a little bit of anti-social behavior in the village – there’s drinking, fighting”.
One resident of Saggart previously told Gript that while residents “understand the importance of providing support to those in need, we are deeply concerned about the repercussions this change will have on our small village”.
“Firstly, the conversion of the Citywest Hotel into a refugee centre will unfortunately result in the closure of our leisure centre, which has been a vital resource for our community. This is not just about losing a facility; it is about losing an important space where our residents, particularly our youth, engage in healthy activities and build community bonds. Additionally, the permanent loss of the hotel means the loss of jobs and economic opportunities that the tourism sector provides. Many locals rely on these jobs to support their families, and this closure feels like a significant blow to our livelihood,” she said.
“Moreover, we are troubled by the lack of infrastructure to accommodate the anticipated increase in population. Saggart does not currently have the necessary resources or services to support what would effectively be the largest refugee centre in Ireland. This sudden influx raises critical questions about public safety and security, especially given that we do not have a garda station in our village. The residents deserve to feel secure in their own homes, yet the current plan seems to disregard their safety entirely,” she added.
“We are particularly alarmed that this development is proceeding without planning permission. It feels as though local voices are being silenced, and our community has been left out of the decision-making process. Over the past five years, the people of Saggart have already made significant sacrifices, including converting our hotel into a COVID hub and assisting Ukrainian refugees. While we acted in solidarity during those times, we can no longer accept decisions that negatively impact our village without proper consultation.”
She also said that locals were “forming a legal team” to address the issues arriving.
At the meeting in the Green Isle hotel last week, attended by hundreds of locals, fears over crime and services were expressed. “We’ve been complete victims of harassment, stalking, violence,” one speaker told the hall.
The meeting heard from one local woman who described a sharp deterioration in public safety since the centre opened.
“Through the winter months, I don’t leave my house after 6:00,” she said.
“I run from the Luas. I try to get the bus because it leaves me outside. I’ve been followed fully to my door. I’ve been chased by a group of men home and filmed.”
She claimed repeated attempts to report these incidents had gone nowhere.
“I used to trust so much in the police. I was like, ‘If someone does something wrong, that’s fine, it’ll be dealt with.’ It’s not…They hang up. The phone goes unanswered.
“I was actually denied leaving a statement when I went to the Garda station,” she continued.
“I was told by Rathcoole to go to Clondalkin to leave a statement. Then when I got to Clondalkin, they said, ‘Rathcoole should never have told you that. Sure, they don’t want people up there because they’re closed half the time.’
The meeting heard sharp criticism of local policing capacity, with repeated questions raised about why Rathcoole Garda Station remains part-time despite a growing population.