Tipperary County Council says yesterday’s briefing in respect of a decision to accommodate asylum seekers in Dundrum House Hotel was arranged in response to requests from councillors seeking a briefing for Elected Members and Community Representatives.
The briefing was arranged for 8am yesterday with a 9am briefing for community representatives.
The council has clarified that only the Elected Members of the Tipperary Cahir Cashel MD were invited to meet with the Department official Eibhlin Byrne.
The Director of Services for Tipperary county Council Brian Beck, says the meeting was attended by Cllr. Roger Kennedy, Cllr. Anne Marie Shiner, Cllr. Mary Hanna Hourigan, Cllr. Declan Burgess and Martin Browne TD.
Mr. Beck adds that a separate briefing was offered to the newly formed Committee in Dundrum, to allow them to raise the Communities concerns directly with the Department and to seek responses to issues that the Community have raised since the announcement was made.
Representatives of this Committee initially accepted the invitation to meet with the Department Official however the committee informed the council that unfortunately, they were ultimately not in a position to attend.
Following two public meetings in Dundrum village a committee has now been formed to lead the community response on plans for Dundrum House Hotel to be sued as an asylum seeker accommodation center while part of the hotel complex continues to be used for refugees from Ukraine.
To date the group has held a peaceful protest at the entrance gate to Dundrum House Hotel.
In a response to Tipp Mid West Radio the Integration section of the Department says “as vacancies arise within existing properties used for those fleeing the war in Ukraine, where the provider agrees, the Department is availing of these spaces.”
TMWR had sought clarification on how a BOTP Accommodation centre would become an IPAS Accommodation Centre.
A number of such moves are being planned across Ireland including at Dundrum House Hotel according to the Department. The Department adds that the overall capacity at Dundrum House Hotel for 277 persons remains the same.
