Waterford would not be suitable for a "floating hotel" accommodating asylum-seekers, the Mayor of the city said yesterday. Mr Pat Hayes, a Labour member of Waterford City Council, said "flotels" were not the way to deal with immigrants, and Waterford's quays were "certainly not" an appropriate location.
"We're at a stage where we're going to develop the north quays; on the city side of the river we're going to develop marinas. The portal trade is moving out to Belview and I just think that a `flotel' would be unsuitable for Waterford," he said.
Waterford is one of five ports, with Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Cork, which the Department of Justice has identified as a possible location for floating housing for about 200 asylum-seekers.
On the Waterford radio station WLR, Mr Hayes denied his opposition was an example of the not-in-my-backyard syndrome. "It's a question of `would it be suitable on the quays in Waterford?' If you're asking me that, I'd say it would not be."
He said the problem of people arriving in containers would have to be addressed. "It really can't continue the way it's happening. There doesn't appear to be any order to it," he said.
