The Government is planning a significant expansion of asylum-seeker accommodation at Dublin’s Citywest Hotel as it closes in on a purchase of the facility worth at least €100 million.
The hotel has been a cornerstone of the State’s response to a surge in migration, with government sources now saying the final steps are being taken towards a purchase of the 764-bedroom hotel, which has been expected since before Christmas.
It is believed that if the plan is put in place, it will potentially lead to a doubling of the capacity there – with indications that up to 1,000 more people could be accommodated. Cabinet is expected to consider the purchase, possibly as soon as Tuesday.
It comes after the Department of Justice scrapped plans to open a controversial 547-bed facility at the former Crown Paints site in Coolock, north Dublin.
The site was the scene of violent clashes last year between gardaí and protesters.
There was significant Opposition criticism of the Government in the wake of the U-turn, which emerged on Friday.
Labour MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, formerly a TD for the Dublin Bay North constituency where the proposed site is located, said he had wanted it to be a success story and a template for how the process should be run.
“Now it’s the opposite of that. And the department have handed a template to every protest group around the country for what they need to do if they feel the need to stop an integration centre from going ahead,” he said.
The Department of Justice said it engaged with a number of entities in relation to International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) accommodation and regularly did not take up offers. “This is the position with the offer of accommodation at the Coolock site,” it said.
[ Asylum seekers will not be accommodated at former Crown Paints site in north Dublin ]
Social Democrats acting leader Cian O’Callaghan said there was no doubt that the handling of the proposals for the site on Malahide Road, Coolock, had been “shambolic”.
Sinn Féin TD for the area, Denise Mitchell, said it had never made sense to locate the centre at the site.
The company that leased the Coolock site, Remcoll Capital, said it “respects the decision of the State” not to proceed with the site. It could not comment further, it said, due to proceedings before the courts.
Remcoll is understood to have spent €13 million on the project, none of which it expects to get back, in what would have been a €30 million investment by its Townbe Unlimited company. The Department of Justice said no State funds had been spent on development or site related costs.
Townbe, founded in 2018, runs seven IPAS centres in counties Dublin, Kerry, Leitrim and Westmeath, accommodating more than 780 people.
Townbe has leased the Coolock site. Costs incurred on the project, which has been under way for more than two years, include rent, legal costs, planning applications as well as security and preparatory works.
It is understood Townbe was told at a meeting with Department of Justice officials last week of the U-turn, a week after responsibility for IPAS accommodation provision transferred from the Department of Children.
Townbe officials are understood to have been shocked and disappointed at the decision and the company has not received a cent from the State.
The company had entered into an agreement with the State, under which it would receive payment only on delivery of a ready-to-go facility.
It is understood not to be considering legal action to recoup any of the €13 million as it has other contracts with the State and others pending.
Paul Collins, owner of Remcoll Capital and Townbe, is understood to have had to leave Ireland for a period last year due to concerns for his safety in the wake of July’s disorder in Coolock.
In an email to local representatives, the Department of Justice said the prolonged nature of the proposal’s progress through development and planning were “significant factors” in the decision to drop the project.
“All offers of international protection accommodation are appraised according to a range of factors, including the site and its potential, value for money to the State, planning matters and any works required to meet the required standards,” the message stated.
