A former restaurant used to accommodate almost 150 Ukrainian men, women and children is being shut down by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth due to fire safety concerns in the run up to Christmas.
The building previously known as Toughers Restaurant, 9km from Carlow town, is now to close at the latest on January 1st next. The premises was converted to accommodate Ukrainians under temporary protection in 2022 in the wake of the Russian invasion.
The department has ended its contract with the accommodation provider and sources have confirmed that all of the Ukrainian families must leave before or on January 1st next.
It is also understood that the families and schools the children attend locally received notification that they must leave last Thursday, giving 19 days to locate alternative accommodation.
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A department spokesperson confirmed that they have “terminated the contract” for the accommodation centre due to “fire safety concerns” following site inspections by an independent inspections company.
The spokesperson explained that at the “time of inspection” of the centre, “the quality of the accommodation being provided was found not to be of the necessary standard required by the department”.
“We made the decision to remove the people living there in the interests of their safety. While it is unfortunate that they will have to be moved with very little notice, this is unavoidable given the concerns raised,” the spokesperson said.
The department said that while families will “where possible” be accommodated locally, other properties around the country will have to be used.
“Given the significant number of people at this location and the shortage of accommodation the department has under contract in this area, it is expected that properties in other parts of the country will have to be used,” the spokesperson said.
“We regret the disruption that this will cause to the people involved, but the department has a duty of care to the people who were accommodated at this [centre].”
The Department previously dealt with issues concerning fire safety back in late 2022 which were subsequently addressed.
John McGuinness, a local Fianna Fáil TD for Carlow-Kilkenny, said that the department informing families that they must leave their accommodation within days is “abhorrent”, adding that “you wouldn’t treat animals” in such a manner.
“I would appeal to the department and relevant authorities to allow this to happen, surely they should sort out what needs to be done when it comes to fire safety. This situation did not just materialise in the past number of days. Families should not be discommoded in the first place but particularly not at this time of the year – it’s quite shocking.
“No political representatives have been consulted about this move which highlights the dysfunctional nature of the department. Neither the Minister (Roderic O’Gorman) nor his officials have engaged with us at all.
“They seem to have no humanity or compassion knowing that families and children are going to be unsettled on the run-up to Christmas. Dispersing people around the country like this is simply unbelievable. If the Dáil was sitting I would have raised this deplorable situation”.
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