70 people seeking asylum in Ireland have been transported to the Dundrum House Hotel complex yesterday. There was a large Garda presence in West Tipperary since early in the morning. Protestors opposed to the creation of an IPAS centre in Dundrum had blocked the main entrance gate with a steel pillar and load of large stones. While Gardaí worked to remove the barrier the buses transporting the new residents used an entrance on the Donaskeigh Road to deliver the new occupants. One person was arrested during the Garda operation. Staff from the Department of Integration and personnel from a security company are on site to meet the new arrivals. It is understood that approximately 180 Ukrainian refugees continue to live in the complex of hotel rooms and self-catering houses.
The Department of Integration is using the facility with the property owner’s agreement without a new IPAS contract being put in place. The centre does have an ongoing contract with the Department to provide accommodation for refugees from Ukraine. In a briefing document issued on July 30th the Department indicated that under a future IPAS contract, the accommodation would be for families and females including both parents and children including male children aged 18+ of that family unit.
Local Campaigners opposed to the IPAS centre are collecting signatures this week calling on local councillors to urgently create a new bye law forbidding the creation of an IPAS centre in Dundrum. Local Rural Independent TD Mattie McGrath and Independent Councillor Liam Browne have both criticised the scale of the Garda operation in the face of a locally organised peaceful protest and the ongoing shortage of Gardaí for routine policing work. The Golf Club at Dundrum House Hotel is closed today but is expected to resume operations as normal in the coming days.
